Boxing News
Teofimo Lopez, Rolly Romero have verbal agreement to fight in August, officials say
Jun 23, 2026 • 5:51 PM ET
Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy Promotions | Cris Esqueda/Matchroom BoxingTwo-division former champion Teofimo Lopez and WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero have verbally agreed to an August fight in Las Vegas for Romero’s belt, officials briefed on the matter told BoxingScene Tuesday.
Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), has been forced to endure more than a year out of the ring as potential opponents, including Conor Benn, Manny Pacquiao and Devin Haney, have failed to strike a deal with the two-division champion from Las Vegas.
Brooklyn’s Lopez, 22-2 (13 KOs), last fought January 31, losing his WBO 140-pound belt to unbeaten four-division champion Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden.
Lopez’s manager, Keith Connolly, precipitated the news by hinting Monday he was on the cusp of a “gigantic” announcement regarding the fighter that would “blow everyone away.”
Lopez declined to delve into the specifics with BoxingScene and Romero did not return repeat messages left for him.
After defeating current WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia in the main event of a Saudi Arabia-backed May 2025 card in New York’s Times Square, Romero, 30, has remained sidelined despite the dalliances with the others.
He believed he was opening training camp for WBO welterweight champion Haney in late March, only to see the three-division champion move to other talks, including current conversations with fellow unbeaten Gervonta Davis.
Lopez, 28, also fought on the Times Square card, defeating mandatory contender Arnold Barboza by unanimous decision.
A former pound-for-pound list member who has defeated former undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor and three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, Lopez told BoxingScene in March he was moving to welterweight and remaining aligned with his father-trainer Teofimo Lopez Snr.
The fight’s venue and date have yet to be finalized, one of the officials said. Romero fights for Premier Boxing Champions, which sends Lamont Roach Jnr to an August 1 DAZN-TNT card in Las Vegas at Virgin Hotels Resort-Casino.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
