Teofimo Lopez Secures Welterweight Title Fight in 147-Pound Debut

Despite Teofimo Lopez coming off the worst loss of his career, he now has an opportunity to become a three-division world champion.

Lopez made it known immediately after his lopsided title-losing loss to Shakur Stevenson in January that he would be moving up to 147 pounds for his next fight. Following a brief hiatus, the 28-year-old has locked himself into an immediate welterweight title shot.

Lopez secures title fight

Lopez has agreed to a fight with WBA welterweight champion Rolando 'Rolly' Romero for his return fight, Ring Magazine insider Mike Coppinger reported on Saturday.

Coppinger reported that the title fight is being targeted for Aug. 22 in Las Vegas.

Romero has not fought since May 2025, when he upset Ryan Garcia to win the belt at Times Square. Romero surprised Garcia early with a left hook knockdown and did just enough to outwork him for the remainder of the lackluster title fight.

‼️ BREAKING: Rolly Romero and Teofimo Lopez have agreed to a deal to fight for Romero’s WBA welterweight title, sources tell The Ring’s @MikeCoppinger.

The fight is being targeted for Aug. 22nd in Las Vegas. Lopez and his team did the deal directly with DAZN, sources said. pic.twitter.com/9LnEePS93F
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) June 28, 2026

'Rolly' is still just 3-2 in his last five fights, but his only losses have been to former champions Gervonta 'Tank' Davis and Isaac 'Pitbull' Cruz.

Since winning the title, the WBA titleholder has been linked to Jack Catterall, Devin Haney and a potential rematch with Garcia before agreeing to fight Lopez. Catterall won the WBA 'regular' welterweight title with a dominant performance against Shakhram Giyasov in May.

Teofimo Lopez hoping for lightning to strike twice

Although Lopez moves up in weight coming off a new low point in his career, he has already had success pulling off a similar move before. He moved up from 135 pounds to 140 pounds after losing the WBA, WBO, IBF and The Ring lightweight titles to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021, where he would embark on a six-fight win streak before running into Stevenson.

Lopez was not granted an immediate title shot when he last changed divisions, but he was not the star he currently is at that time. Lopez, who gained initial stardom by beating Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020, established himself as a top-tier fighter with a four-fight title run at super welterweight. His reign included wins over Josh Taylor, Arnold Barboza Jr. and Jamaine Ortiz.

Despite his previous success changing divisions, Lopez was never the biggest 140-pound fighter, causing some to question if this latest career move is coming in desperation. The biggest criticism everyone had coming out of his loss to Stevenson targeted his father and head trainer, Teofimo Lopez Sr.

Fans begged Lopez to make a coaching change after clips of his father's corner work during the loss went viral for all the wrong reasons. Lopez, however, confirmed that he will not be making any changes to his team ahead of his next fight.