Updated

Updated · ESPN · Aug 23

Teofimo Lopez Claims WBA Welterweight Title by Majority Decision, Becomes 3-Division Champion

Updated

Updated · ESPN · Aug 23

Teofimo Lopez Claims WBA Welterweight Title by Majority Decision, Becomes 3-Division Champion

Q: How did one judge score the fight a draw despite Lopez dominating the punch stats, leaving Romero screaming robbery?

It appears to have come down to subjective round-by-round judging in a low-output fight, not the overall punch totals. Judge Glenn Feldman turned in the 114-114 card, meaning he found Romero won or evened enough of the quieter rounds to offset Lopez’s busier stretches. That is why the draw was so controversial. CompuBox showed Lopez landed 124 of 530 punches to Romero’s 73 of 352, outlanded him in 10 of the 12 rounds, and piled up a career-high 62 jabs with heavy body work. Most media scorecards had Lopez clearly ahead, some as wide as 118-110. But boxing is scored round by round, and several rounds were uneventful enough to leave room for interpretation. Romero had his clearest success in the fourth and especially fifth, when he hurt Lopez and opened a cut near his right eye. If a judge favored Romero’s cleaner, more eye-catching counters in a few otherwise close rounds, a draw becomes mathematically possible even if it clashes with the broader statistical picture. Even so, the 114-114 card drew sharp criticism because Romero was too passive for long stretches and failed to build on his best moment. Analysts and reporters widely described Feldman’s score as hard to justify given Lopez’s steadier jab, pressure, and late-round control. That explains why Romero yelled robbery despite Lopez being the deserved winner on the other two cards, 115-113 and 116-112.

3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Aug 23

115-113 and 116-112 cards lifted Teofimo Lopez past Rolando Romero in Las Vegas after a 114-114 score, giving Lopez the WBA welterweight belt in his 147-pound debut.
Compubox credited Lopez with landing 124 of 530 punches to Romero’s 73 of 352, and Romero managed just two connects in the final round as Lopez controlled the second half.
Romero hurt Lopez with a left hook in the fourth and a right hand in the fifth, but Lopez recovered to win key middle rounds; Romero called the decision a robbery.
The victory made Lopez, 29, a three-division world champion and a quick rebound from his lopsided January loss to Shakur Stevenson in a WBO super lightweight title fight.
At welterweight, Lopez now has options against Devin Haney, Liam Paro or the Ryan Garcia-Conor Benn winner, while Jack Catterall stands as the WBA mandatory challenger.