With Teofimo Lopez and Rolando Romero colliding for his old welterweight title on August 22, Errol Spence Jr has offered his thoughts on their Las Vegas showdown.
The pair will square off at the T-Mobile Arena, with ‘Rolly’ making a first defence of his WBA belt after being elevated from ‘regular’ to full champion.
His unanimous decision victory over Ryan Garcia was considered a sizable upset, especially after he scored a second-round knockdown in their May 2025 contest.
But while the American looked impressive in his last outing, it is difficult to forget those previous stoppage defeats to Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz.
Lopez, meanwhile, is considered the more proven operator at this level, having become a two-weight world champion by dethroning Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor.
Much like Romero, however, ‘The Takeover’ has been known to produce several uninspiring performances, including those that led to his contentious victories over Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin.
Most recently, the 29-year-old suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Shakur Stevenson in January, yet this was largely due to his opponent’s brilliance at 140lbs.
In any case, former unified champion Spence has told DAZN that, while not fully confident, he is favouring Romero to pull off another upset victory.
“You never know because every time I go against Rolly, Rolly wins. If Teo’s on point, I got Teo. But Rolly could edge it. Rolly [causes] a lot of upsets, so I might roll with Rolly.”
Lopez’ only other defeat came against George Kambosos Jr in 2021, which the American subsequently blamed on health issues he was experiencing prior to their lightweight encounter.
