Rolly Romero has hit out at the judging in his narrow defeat by Teofimo Lopez, after losing the WBA welterweight title in a back-and-forth clash on Saturday.
Lopez earned scorecards of 116-112 and 115-113 at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena, while the other read 114-114, as Lopez dethroned his fellow American to become a three-weight champion.
For Lopez, 29, activity down the stretch was seemingly crucial, as he recovered from a fifth round in which he was cut and wobbled. Yet Romero, 30, has disputed that Lopez did enough to snatch the victory.
In his post-fight press conference, Romero addressed suggestions that he needed to do more in the latter half of the fight, saying: “Why don’t we ask that to every single boxer that literally just picks, moves, picks, moves, picks, moves.
“Everyone praises that as beautiful, perfect boxing, yada yada yada. But when I do it, why don’t I get the same [credit] like everybody else, right? Why?
“Is it because I’m a power puncher? Because I’m awkward? I never get a fair shake, and it’s apparent. I clearly outboxed the dude that’s supposed to be one of the best boxers. He’s an Olympian and all this stuff. 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. When somebody else does this, it’s a masterclass. When I do it, it’s self-explanatory, right? […] It’s all political. Do I really need to [elaborate]?”
Romero’s loss followed his title win against Ryan Garcia last May, in which Romero dropped and outpointed his compatriot. Meanwhile, Lopez’s victory saw him bounce back from a one-sided decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in January.
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“If you lose and you come back, you never lost, because you’re a winner,” Lopez said in the ring after the scores were revealed. “I’m a winner. I’m a true example of what winning is. It ain’t about losing; it’s about never giving up. The scorecard, I couldn’t care less, because at the end we got victory.
“There was a shot that he hit me with where it woke me up, and I told him right there: ‘You got to do better than that.’ I just kept saying: ‘You ain’t gonna take me out. It’s not that easy.’
“I expected something similar to this [type of fight], just a little more combinations from Rolly’s side, but he was just calculating and staying composed, listening to the instructions in his corner. We had to go and push the fight if need be.”
