Shakur Stevenson Backs Teofimo Lopez to Dethrone Romero at 147

Shakur Stevenson has thrown his weight behind Teofimo Lopez to become a three-division world champion, tipping the 22-2 (13 KO) former lightweight king to lift Rolando Romero's WBA (Super) welterweight belt on August 22 in Las Vegas. Coming from the man who comfortably outboxed Lopez at Madison Square Garden back in January, that's not nothing.

Stevenson, now 25-0 (11 KO) and the WBO super-lightweight champion, posted on X that despite giving Lopez plenty of grief, he genuinely rates him to win this one. He also owned up to a recent miss — he'd picked Ryan Garcia to beat Romero last year, and Romero handed him a unanimous-decision defeat instead. So take the endorsement with that caveat attached.

The Climb to a Third Title

Lopez has built his career on wrecking the careers of the divisions' golden boys. He dethroned Vasyl Lomachenko at lightweight, then took Josh Taylor's WBO super-lightweight strap. Three defences later, Stevenson exposed him over 12 rounds and sent him packing to welterweight. Now he's chasing belt number three in a third weight class on his 147lb debut.

Romero, meanwhile, has been coasting on reputation. He grabbed the title with that unanimous-decision win over Garcia at Times Square nearly 14 months ago and hasn't defended it since. At 17-2 (13 KO) and ranked #5 at welterweight, he's got the power — but ring rust is a real thing when you've sat on a belt for over a year.

The stylistic gap is interesting. Both men carry the same 13 knockouts, but Lopez has the sharper amateur pedigree and the bigger names on his résumé. Romero's calling card is a heavy right hand and the kind of self-belief that occasionally outruns his output. Against a fighter stepping up in weight and coming off a chastening loss, that could cut either way.

For Lopez, this is a chance to reset the narrative. The Stevenson defeat was the first time he'd looked genuinely second-best in years, and moving up to welterweight is a gamble on his own natural size. Win in Vegas and he's a three-weight champion who bounced back immediately. Lose and the questions get a lot louder. The rest of the card is expected to drop in the coming days.