Teofimo Lopez Says He'll 'Settle the Score' With Rolly Romero

Teofimo Lopez isn't pretending this is a friendly. Ahead of his title fight with Rolly Romero, Lopez told boxing media he once lent Romero $20,000 — $15,000 for a Rolex Romero had allegedly taken from someone, plus another $5,000 he says he covered for Romero's sister. That's the backdrop to a bout Lopez frames less as sport and more as a reckoning: he says he plans to settle the score once the bell rings.

The setup matters. Romero landed this fight only after failing to close deals with Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, and Lopez made clear he doesn't buy the idea that a champion had to take it. Romero didn't need this fight, Lopez argued — he took it for his own reasons. And Lopez, who says he's fought for purses north of a million dollars, took a shot at the wider dysfunction of the sport when noting his surprise that Haney and Keyshawn Davis couldn't get their own fight over the line.

The Haney-Davis Mess

Lopez didn't hide his confusion over the collapsed Devin Haney–Keyshawn Davis matchup, and he pointed a finger at the promotional machinery. Having tangled with Top Rank himself in the past, Lopez said he wouldn't be shocked if that's the root of Davis's issues. He noted Davis is back in the gym, so there's still a path forward — but the whole episode, in his telling, is a symptom of a sport that struggles to make the fights fans actually want.

The names carry weight. Haney sits at 33-0 with 15 knockouts and holds the WBO welterweight belt after outpointing Brian Norman Jr. Davis, unbeaten at 15-0 with 10 stoppages, has the kind of finishing rate that makes a Haney showdown genuinely appealing. That two of the sport's most marketable young talents couldn't get in a ring together is exactly the frustration Lopez was voicing.

What's Actually at Stake

Strip away the personal history and Lopez-Romero is still a title fight with real stakes for both men. Romero is the champion, and Lopez — a former unified lightweight king who's rebuilt at 140 — has plenty of motivation beyond the belt. The loaned money, the questions about loyalty, the sense that Romero took a fight he didn't have to: it all feeds a narrative Lopez seems happy to lean into.

Whether the grudge translates into a better fight is the open question. Lopez has always performed with a chip on his shoulder, and he's clearly walking into this one convinced Romero owes him more than $20,000. Come fight night, he intends to collect.