Last laugh: Rolly Romero collecting belts and yuks

His humor, aloof nature and casual approach to a deadly serious sport give off a vibe that can lead some to cast Rolly Romero as more a character than a leading man.

“I’m the most disrespected champion in history,” Romero told BoxingScene recently, heading down a road that even he’s tiring of defending. “Three belts in three divisions and they still don’t… that’s a whole different story.”

Should Las Vegas’ WBA welterweight champion Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), follow his 2025 victory over current WBC champion Ryan Garcia by defeating two-division champion Teofimo Lopez, 22-2 (13 KOs), August 22 in a Prime Video/DAZN pay-per-view main event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, he’ll be nearing hallowed ground as a two-division champion who also previously wore an interim lightweight belt.

“I want to be in the Hall of Fame and he wants to be a three-division champion. He’s in the way of my dream. Pretty high stakes, huh?" Romero said.

The 30-year-old spoke to BoxingScene recently after handing out 400 back-to-school backpacks to students at the Las Vegas elementary school he attended, John S. Park Elementary.

One of the students approached Romero and told him, “I’ve seen you on YouTube.”

Calling them “a bunch of little mini-me’s,” Romero said he was reflective during the visit regarding the grand life he’s made from such simple beginnings.

“I like to give. The nostalgia of coming through this school again – everything looks exactly the same, but so much smaller now,” Romero said. “It means a lot to have an impact on the youth. This was for the kids, but this was also a trip down memory lane for me.”

Romero has endured a string of possible opponents balking at fighting him – including Garcia, Manny Pacquiao, Conor Benn and Devin Haney – since he knocked down Garcia early, and then defeated him by decision in May 2025 at New York’s Times Square.

The WBA champion has been out of the ring since then, inflating that feeling of being unappreciated.

“I needed time off to focus in on me,” Romero explained. “I organized my whole life outside of boxing.”

Still, he wonders why The Ring Magazine has him out of its top-10 welterweight rankings even though he’s defeated the No. 2 fighter [Garcia] who knocked down No. 1 Haney three times in their 2024 no-contest.

“Make that make sense. The No. 1 dude got beat by the No. 2 dude that I beat. Do the math,” Romero said. “The dude that’s been inactive for most of the last three years [Eimantas Stanionis] is No. 4.”

That underrated position is serving Romero well, however. Only defeated by three-division champion Gervonta Davis and former 140lbs champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, Romero plays up the role of being looked past.

At last month’s introductory news conference for the Romero-Lopez fight, some observers concluded Lopez, upon signing a new deal with DAZN he valued at $20 million, is taking the fight more seriously.

Lopez is coming off a wide loss by decision to Shakur Stevenson on January 31 at Madison Square Garden.

Asked his response to such an opinion, Romero said, “He is [taking it more seriously]. I’m not even training. I’ve been chilling. The only reason I train is not to win the fight. It’s to make weight. If I don’t make weight, there is no fight. I don’t even need to work out anymore.

“I spar because I like to hit people in the face. Other than that, I don’t care about anything else. He’s probably running through 10 to 20 sparring partners. He’s over there running and sprinting. I don’t need to do all that, especially in the Vegas heat.”

Romero also provided BoxingScene a sampling of his hilarious impressions of Lopez’s father-trainer, Teofimo Lopez Snr., when it came time to discuss why the same fighter who defeated three-division great Vasiliy Lomachenko lost to George Kambosos.

“My son beat Lomachenko,” Romero said in the raspy, distinctive voice. “I don’t know who that was [against Kambosos], but that wasn’t my son … .”

Just as all the incentive to win was there for Lopez versus Lomachenko and former undisputed 140lbs champion Josh Taylor, Romero assesses Lopez is fully motivated for him, too.

The secret to winning, Romero said, is another patented phrase by Lopez Snr.

“You punch him in the face,” Romero said. “How else do you want me to put it? The best advice I’ve ever heard in the corner is [Teofimo Lopez Snr. saying,] ‘You gotta hit him, bro!’ He was right. He had to hit him. That’s all you’ve got to do to win a fight: You’ve just got to hit him.”

By winning, Romero pins down either Haney or Garcia for a high-profile unification, and victory also means he runs Las Vegas.

“Nah, I’m not ready. I don’t want that much responsibility,” Romero cracked.

Who does he want to fight in victory?

“You’re all making me think too far ahead. I don’t think about that,” Romero insisted. “All the guys I’d want to fight have ducked me, so what am I going to do? Go yell at the wall?”