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Brett Okamoto
Multiple Authors
Rolando “Rolly” Romero returns to the ring on Saturday to defend his WBA welterweight title against Teofimo Lopez at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It’s his first fight in 15 months, but the two-division champion has much bigger concerns about the state of boxing.
While Romero is focused on adding another big name to his résumé, he also has strong opinions about the direction of the sport. Romero believes boxing is suffering because fighters are being overpaid for less than stellar matchups — a criticism he acknowledges is ironic coming from a top boxer.
“I care less about money,” Romero told ESPN. “I’m here for the sport of boxing. I’m here to grow the sport of boxing.”
Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) is fighting for the first time since he upset Ryan Garcia in May 2025. Romero, 30, believes he earned his payday by facing an elite opponent such as Garcia, but feels too many fighters in far less significant bouts are getting paid more than they deserve.
“The real reason boxing is dying is overpaying these dudes for fights that they shouldn’t be getting paid this much for,” Romero said. “Then it contributes nothing to the sport, and now all the younger dudes, it’s taking away from them. It’s just no good, bro. I don’t like it. Stop overpaying fighters — and that’s coming from a fighter, a real-life fighter. Stop overpaying fighters.”
Romero pointed to the WBC’s super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli on Oct. 31 in Saudi Arabia as a clear example. Alvarez signed a multi-fight deal with Riyadh Season in February 2025 for a reported $400 million. Romero believes that overpaying Alvarez for matchups that do nothing for the sport is a big problem, and he doesn’t mind speaking out about it. The first fight of that deal was against William Scull, who at the time had the IBF super middleweight title but was little known in boxing.
A fight between Alvarez and three-division champion David Benavidez has been discussed for many years, but the bout has not materialized and Benavidez has moved up in weight all the way to cruiserweight.
“I think Canelo’s lost the last bit of respect he had as a boxer,” Romero said. “Why has he not fought David Benavidez? This [Mbilli bout] is clearly just a cash grab. I have no words for Canelo. He’s not boxing to get belts, he’s just doing a money grab. I can’t stand fighters who just do money grabs. Bro, at this point, retire and let young fighters use that money. I’m all for people making their money, but contributing to the sport, too.”
Romero’s frustrations extend to the long-awaited heavyweight clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, which is expected to happen later this year, as well as a rematch between Garcia and Devin Haney failing to materialize in the more than two years since their first bout in April 2024.
“[Fury vs. Joshua] should have happened many years ago,” Romero said. “Why didn’t it happen? It would be one of the biggest U.K. fights of all time. I still want Devin Haney to get his rematch. They never did it. Make it make sense.”
For his part, Romero believes Saturday’s contest against Lopez — a two-division champion who is moving up to 147 pounds for the first time — is the type of event that furthers boxing and does right by its fans. Part of the reason for his 15-month layoff, he said, was that he struggled to find a willing opponent. He’s grateful Lopez accepted the opportunity to become a three-division champion.
“Thank God, Teo took this fight,” Romero said. “I literally got ducked by everybody.
“Boxing is like life, right? We’re hunters, we’re gatherers. We eat what we kill. If you don’t kill, you don’t eat. You starve. The second they stop overpaying all these dudes that think they’re worth more than they are, boxing will become a lot better.”
Romero had been linked to a title unification fight with Haney, the WBO champion, and a megafight with Manny Pacquiao before finalizing the fight with Lopez. Garcia (WBC) and Liam Paro (IBF) are the other welterweight champions.
In addition to Romero’s thoughts on the state of boxing and his fight this weekend, ESPN asked for his take on the other potential top contenders at welterweight that could be in his near future.
Teofimo Lopez, two-division champion: What can I say about him? I can say a lot and I can say nothing. He’s a future Hall of Famer. He’s earned it.
Richardson Hitchins, former IBF junior welterweight champion: I beat up Richardson Hitchins in sparring on Oct. 13, 2016. It was at Floyd’s [Mayweather] gym [in Las Vegas]. He’s a great fighter, though.
Liam Paro, IBF welterweight champion: I sparred him at City Athletics [boxing gym in Las Vegas] when I was getting ready for Tank [Gervonta Davis] in 2021. He was trying to be really professional. I was trying to chop his head off. But respect to him. He’s a professional fighter. He fought very professionally. I was too immature at the time.
Ryan Garcia, WBC welterweight champion: I beat him up originally [in sparring] on April 16, 2017, then again on April 18, 2017, and then again on May 2, 2025.
Brian Norman Jr., former WBO welterweight champion: He punches hard. Good fighter. Really good fighter. Can’t say anything bad about him.
Shakur Stevenson, WBO junior welterweight champion: He’s a great fighter. You can’t say anything wrong against him in boxing. He’s a great fighter. He earned it.
Keyshawn Davis, former WBO lightweight champion: Hey, yo, man, I like Keyshawn, bro. I like Keyshawn a lot. But the math ain’t mathin’ with that Devin Haney thing.
It takes a lot to leave me confused in the boxing world, and that left me actually confused. I know what happened with the purse bids and purses and all that stuff. It’s a little complicated, but I’m still very confused.
Dalton Smith, WBC junior welterweight champion: That dude did a blessing for the boxing world to go stop Subriel Matias, who is horrible. Honestly, brother, I have zero respect for Matias. I just don’t like juice heads. I can’t stand him.
Respect to Dalton Smith. Good luck [in his next fight] against [Alberto] Pueyo. Pueyo trains with us over here, so I mean, good luck with Pueyo.
