Teofimo Lopez rejects Rolly Romero rematch

Lopez has already set his sights on bigger fights.

Teofimo Lopez has rejected Rolando Romero's demand for an immediate rematch after winning by majority decision on Saturday night.

Rolando Romero agreed to a voluntary title defense against Teofimo Lopez, even though he wasn’t obligated to do so. At the post-fight press conference, the new champion ruled out a rematch relatively quickly. Instead, Teofimo Lopez hopes to face the winner of the bout between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn. He also wants to focus on fighting opponents like Devin Haney or Liam Paro next. His opponent from Saturday night, Rolando Romero, is certain, however, that he deserved the victory and is criticizing the judges’ decision.

“I never get a fair shake, and it’s apparent. I clearly outboxed him. I cut him. I hurt him multiple times. It’s clear as day, I deserve a rematch. Honestly, that decision was self-explanatory”

he said in comments published by The Ring.

The physical evidence actually backs up his statement a bit. Teofimo Lopez suffered a deep cut above his right eye, which he sustained in the fifth round from a wide-swinging right hook. He also landed a few hard shots here and there as the fight progressed. But even these isolated moments ultimately aren’t enough to make up for his inactivity. Teofimo Lopez worked constantly with jabs and kept Rolando Romero under constant pressure. And Rolando Romero kept waiting for counterpunches, but unfortunately, they didn’t come that often. The problem is that Rolando Romero has no contractual right to a rematch. That means if Teofimo Lopez says no, that’s it for him, and he’ll have to work his way back up to another title shot. We can only wait with bated breath to see which fight the new champion takes on next, and whether he might make a title fight possible after all.

I can understand Rolando Romero a little. I think it really hurts when you voluntarily want to defend the title and then lose. However, he shouldn’t blame everything on the judges, since he’s had long periods of inactivity.