Rolly Romero vs Teofimo Lopez expert fight predictions

Rolly Romero vs Teofimo Lopez predictions - Who wins welterweight world championship showdown on Saturday?

Rolly Romero defends his WBA World welterweight title to challenger Teofimo Lopez this Saturday night, August 22, live on DAZN and Prime Video from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Nevada native, Rolly, won the belt against Ryan Garcia in May 2025 and now finally defends it for the first time to two-weight world ruler, Teo, who comes off a loss to Shakur Stevenson in January.

Despite the defeat, the Brooklyn boxer is favourite at the bookies to dethrone the Las Vegas titleholder in his home city. It's a close contest to call, so GBN collected a catalogue of fight predictions from industry experts.

Teddy Atlas, Trainer and Hall of Fame broadcaster

“I’m going with Teofimo. I’m going to go with his talent. I think that, at the end of the day, he is more talented [than Romero] and more instinctual, I don’t know if that showed too much in the Shakur Stevenson fight, but that style and that talent of Stevenson is pretty different and very difficult.”

Ryan Garcia, WBC World welterweight champion

“Probably Teofimo. I feel like Teofimo has his number.

“I think the sparring is going to play a part in it and I feel like Rollies, they’re both going to have a sense of hesitation because of the sparring.

“But I think because when Teofimo really, really believes in himself, he didn’t seem like he was confident in Shakur [Stevenson] at all in the lead up.

“But I think this fight he knows what to do with Rollies.”

Tim Bradley, Two-weight world champion

“What [version of] Rolly gonna show up? Do we need the more calculated Rolly – the one that fought Ryan Garcia … a very awkward boxing style?

“Or, do we need the Rolly that’s gonna bring it to Teo? Teofimo Lopez ain’t got no power. 140lbs – he ain’t knocked nobody out.

“He going to [147lbs], jumping up 7lbs. Rolly is thumping – he can punch. He’s been at [147lbs] for some time now. It’s a different feeling when you get hit with them bricks, and Rolly got that freaky strength.”

Stephen Breadman Edwards, World champion trainer

“I'm picking Rolly because, Teo, I don't think has the physicality at 147lbs. At 135lbs he was monster, at 140lbs he had that great win over Josh Taylor, but he hasn't really hurt anybody at 140 and now he's going to 147. Sometimes guys just reach their ceiling as moving up in weight.

“I think that Rolly found something in that Ryan Garcia fight, to fight a disciplined fight like that for 12-rounds against a talent like Ryan Garcia was impressive to me. He's boxed a lot of talented guys in the gym and, believe it or not, he's got the better of a lot of talented guys in the gym.

“There's something about the timing of this fight and the way that Rolly looked against Garcia, I just like Rolly.”

Leigh Copson, Expert Picks

"Teofimo Lopez is coming off the back of a loss, but there is no shame in losing to a fighter like Shakur Stevenson.

"He remains one of the premier fighters in the welterweight division, and we expect him to produce a smart, calculated fight to leave with the WBA title belt."

Ricky Carroll, Big Fight Weekend

"Romero has that fight-altering power in his locker. He has proven that throughout his professional career, including knocking Garcia down last time out. His style is difficult to read as he operates at such an unusual tempo, which often makes him a difficult opponent to face. He also controls the distance well in his fights and will need to do this against Teofimo.

"Lopez, at his best, is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters. He was simply outclassed last time out, but the instructions from his corner and the in-fight tactics were baffling throughout, making it harder for him to have any success against Shakur.

"Teofimo has exceptional hand speed, which allows him to put together eye-catching combinations. He’s very good at closing the distance, something which Rolly will need to negate. Lopez is a great counter-puncher and will look to catch Romero in between him throwing punches.

"At his very best, even up in weight, it’s difficult to look past Teofimo Lopez, and we are backing the challenger to win by unanimous decision and become a three-division world champion."

Jonathan Nagioff, Pro Boxing Fans

"Lopez’s last six outings have gone the distance and the 29-year-old, who heads in off a comprehensive points loss to Shakur Stevenson in January, is expected to win by decision at 4/5."