Lopez defeats Romero to become three-weight champion, sidesteps Catterall
American Teofimo Lopez won Rolando Romero's WBA 'Super' welterweight world title in Las Vegas but declined to name Briton Jack Catterall as his first title defence.
Teofimo Lopez claimed a majority decision win over Rolando Romero at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, taking the WBA 'Super' welterweight world title and becoming a three-weight world champion. The 29-year-old American has previously held titles at lightweight and light-welterweight.
Despite the win, Lopez did not commit to facing Britain's Jack Catterall next, even though the Chorley fighter holds the WBA 'Regular' belt and is technically next in line unless the WBA opts for a unification bout instead.
Instead, Lopez said he wants to wait for the winner of the upcoming WBC title fight between champion Ryan Garcia and English challenger Conor Benn, scheduled for 12 September in the same Las Vegas ring. As an alternative, he mentioned a possible unification fight with Australia's IBF champion Liam Paro. Lopez added that he would ultimately prefer to face WBO champion Devin Haney down the line.
Catterall responded quickly on social media platform X, congratulating Lopez on his victory while insisting he would take the belt from him.
