Rolando Romero-Teofimo Lopez Live Updates and Highlights From Tonight's Card

Another set of weird scorecards but another correct winner in the end, with Lopez grabbing a majority decision to capture the WBA welterweight title and become a champion in a third weight class after previous claims at 135 and 140 pounds.

"These judges' scorecards have not been good tonight," analyst Sergio Mora said.

Judge Glenn Feldman had it dead even at 114 apiece, but he was overruled, correctly, by Max DeLuca's 115-113 and Tim Cheatam's 116-112.

B/R gave Lopez 10 of 12 rounds for a wide 118-110 margin.

"The scorecards, I could care less," Lopez said, "because I got the victory. This is the road to undisputed."

Every round appears to be a carbon copy of the one before it, with Lopez fighting cautiously and effectively. Lopez landed a hard overhand right in the final minute of the 10th and had Romero briefly retreating but it didn't seem to have a decisive impact.

Lopez's corner veered between claiming they needed to win the final two rounds and needed to avoid mistakes, while Romero's lead corner man said the fighter's response to instructions was intermittent.

"(Lopez is) too athletic, too gifted, too sharp, too smart," analyst Sergio Mora said after the 11th.

"I really believe (Romero) is going to hate himself for how he fought," analyst Chris Mannix said in the 12th.

Romero and his backers may ultimately claim to have delivered a clinical boxing lesson, but it'll be Lopez with the high-profile callouts—Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Shakur Stevenson, perhaps—in the aftermath thanks to a wide margin on the B/R scorecard, 118-110.

Romero has done well and caused damage when he's let his hands go but he's not done it enough to win enough rounds. Lopez pumped his fist and tried to get Romero to engage in a prolonged firefight, but the same steady flow continued to end the seventh.

Lopez had landed 28 more punches through seven rounds according to ringside punch-counting numbers.

"We he lets his hands go, Rolly Romero has shown the ability to hurt Teofimo Lopez," analyst Chris Mannix said in the ninth, "but he's just not doing it enough."

"It's another quiet round for Romero when he needs to be getting loud," blow-by-blow man Todd Grisham said.

Thanks to that reticence to fire, it's Lopez's fight—by an 88-83 margin on the B/R card—through nine rounds.

Romero is waiting for Lopez to make a mistake to counter it, but he's not been active enough thus far. He moved his hands a little bit more in the fourth but still not enough to clearly win a round because Lopez has continued to look like the more confident and disciplined fighter.

Romero did land a quick counter left in the final half-minute of the fourth than had Lopez spinning off to the side and gave a partisan Romero crowd reason to jump, but there was no prolonged follow-up.

"(Romero is) keeping those guns holstered too much," said analyst Sergio Mora in the fourth.

Romero started initiating exchanges in the fifth, bloodied Lopez over the right eye with a left hook and drove him to the ropes with a follow-up right hand.

Lopez caught a left hook to the chin and responded with a hard right to the body a minute into the sixth, steadying himself after a difficult fifth and reaching the halfway point with a 58-56 edge on the B/R scorecard.

Neither fighter landed a punch of real significance in the first round, though Romero lashed out with a quick lead left hook that landed and Lopez delivered a hard right in the final minute. Lopez spent most of the session on his front foot, which was a visual edge in terms of scoring, while Romero was content to lean back and get in position to land counters.

Lopez continued to press in the second and looked to make Romero uncomfortable with the applied pressure. Lopez jabbed well and remained defensively responsible and didn't allow Romero to land counters.

Lopez caught a left hand from Romero on the gloves and replied with a straight right to end the first minute of the third round. Neither fighter is lighting it up in terms of activity, but Lopez has carried what action there's been through three rounds and he's up, 30-27, on the B/R scorecard.

Each of the first three fights has gone the distance. But, if Lopez's pre-fight bluster is to be believed, this one won't.

That said, Lopez has gone six fights—five wins, one loss—since his last KO win, a seventh-round finish of Pedro Campa in 2022.

Romero has won two straight by decision—against Ryan Garcia and Manuel Jaimes—but he was stopped in eight rounds by Isaac Cruz in 2024 and stopped Ismael Barroso in Round 9 in 2023.

It'll go in the books as a majority decision, which was surprising, but Steve Weisfeld's 95-95 card was overruled by a 98-92 tally and another by 99-91 for Hernandez.

The winner improved to 11-0 and went 10 rounds for the second time.

"I saw a lot of loopholes that higher competition is going to take advantage of against Hernandez," analyst Malik Scott said. "I'm not in awe of him (now), like I came in. Something is missing there."

It didn't look the way most expected, but the winner stilled seemed to be Hernandez, who figured to improve to 11-0 after landing the more telling shots in most of the 10 rounds.

Veron was busier and landed a memorable shot in one round but was out-landed in terms of significant shots in the other nine rounds and it yielded a 99-91 tally on the B/R card.

Hard to imagine it'd look much different on the official cards.

Hernandez saw the seventh round for just the fifth time in his career, but his strategy and its effect hadn't changed. He covered well when Veron came forward but still controlled territory when he replied and was especially effective when he pushed the pace.

He went to the 10th round for just the second time in 11 fights.

Outside of the two 10-rounders—this one and a unanimous decision over Kyrone Davis in 2025—his first nine KOs went a combined 38 rounds.

Three minutes left and it's 89-82 for the powerful Cuban on the B/R card.

Veron is far from just surviving. In fact, he's fighting on the front foot and initiating exchanges despite the hard blows coming back in his direction.

He's been unable to hurt Hernandez, though, and the bigger man landed the more significant blows in each of the first four rounds. He's not scored a knockdown, however, and Veron is vying to become the first opponent not knocked off his feet.

Veron began the fifth with a prolonged flurry that drove Hernandez to the ropes, but the Cuban quickly responded and took charge.

A hard counter left from Veron late in the sixth drew a pop from the crowd when Hernandez appeared to wobble briefly against the ropes. It may have been enough to give him his first round on the scorecard.

We'll call it 5-1, or 59-55 on points, for Hernandez through six rounds.

Veron is a smart, brave fighter and he came out unafraid to walk toward Hernandez, who clearly was looking to land a big punch that'd change the competitive dynamic.

Veron did well from distance with a stiff left jab and occasional follow-up shots, but Hernandez moved him with every shot that landed, even though they weren't frequent.

There's probably a world in which Veron is winning rounds simply because he's doing better than expectations, but if you'd rather be one of these guys in each of the first three rounds, it's been Hernandez. We'll call it 30-27 for him.

There have been 22 rounds without a KO so far but that could change with the arrival of hulking middleweight Yoenli Hernandez in the co-main event.

Hernandez, 29, is 10-0 with nine KOs since debuting in 2022.

He'll face Argentine export Francisco Veron, who's gone 17-1-1 with 10 KOs in his 19 fights as a pro. He was dropped once in his lone loss, to Brandon Adams, at 154 pounds in 2024.

Hernandez is ranked second in the division by Ring Magazine and is slotted No. 1 by the WBA and WBO, No. 2 by the WBC and No. 10 by the IBF.

It's a 22nd win in 23 fights for Russell, who's only career loss came on a cut-prompted technical decision to Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2022. Santillan fell to 16-3 and 3-3 since starting his career with 13 straight wins.

The unanimous decision for Russell came via scores of 118-109 (matching the B/R card), 119-108 and 119-108.

"He was able to show his dog," guest analyst Emiliano Vargas said.

Santillan continued to march forward, and Russell continued to move his hands and win every exchange as the fight entered the so-called "championship rounds." Russell scored well with stinging left hands that rattled Santillan but didn't create real danger until a knockdown early in the 12th.

Santillan rose and held and survived the round to hear the final bell.

It's a low-tier belt but it could turn into a full-fledged WBA title for Russell if Naoya Inoue decides to abandon 122 pounds and move to 126.

Not a lot of room for controversy on this one. Russell is the promotion's house fighter and probably won (at least) 10 of the 12 rounds, yielding a 118-109 win on B/R's scorecard.

Russell scored with a clean combination to begin the seventh, perhaps his clearest and most noticeable volley of blows of the entire fight. Santillan is letting Russell initiate the exchanges, which is widening the athleticism gap between the two.

It was the same story to begin the eighth, with Russell keeping the slower and less fluid Santillan at bay both at distance and in close. Santillan's work rate has slowed to a trickle.

Hard to imagine Santillan having nicked more than a round or two on any judge's scorecard and it's no different with the B/R tally, which has it 88-84 for Russell through nine.

Russell's holding lessened and the speedy lefty did well initiating exchanges to begin the fourth, and he scored particularly well to the body when the fighters got close.

Santillan's work rate dropped dramatically and he no longer used the right jab to close distance, which enabled Russell to use his hand speed. Santillan did rally late in the fifth, however, while choosing to wade in with wide right hooks.

Russell's superior technique is becoming more evident as the fight evolves and it's translated to a two-point edge on B/R's scorecard—58-56—at the halfway mark.

Santillan was more aggressive early in a battle of tactics-heavy southpaws but the busiest principal in the ring was referee Robert Hoyle, who stepped in to break up frequent clinches and repeatedly admonished Russell for hitting Santillan on the back of the head.

Hoyle chastised both fighters for holding between the second and third rounds, did so again midway through the third, and looks poised to take a point from one or both fighters if it continues.

"The crowd's going to get tired of this real quick," said blow-by-blow man Todd Grisham.

There's not much to discern in terms of action, but we'll give Santillan a 2-1 lead (29-28 on points) through three rounds.

It's the first of a pair of so-called "championship" scraps on the main card in fight No. 2, where Gary Antonio Russell challenges for the WBA's interim title at 122 pounds against Victor Santillan.

Santillan was awarded "interim" status in February after beating Noel Reyes.

The WBA's full-fledged champion in the weight class is pound-for-pound elite Naoya Inoue.

Russell is ranked fourth by the WBA at 122 and neither man is ranked by Ring Magazine.

It's good to be the A-side and it was good to be Utria when the scores were read, with the Colombian getting scores of 96-94 and 97-93 from two judges to escape with a split decision.

Only Steve Weisfeld saw it for Mercado, giving him a 96-94 nod that echoed the sentiment of the B/R card, which gave Mercado seven of 10 rounds.

Mercado landed 157 punches to Utria's 152 and threw 325 power shots to Utria's 313.

"97-93 is disgraceful," analyst Chris Mannix said. "If you're the Nevada commission, you need to bring this judge (Patricia Morse Jarman) in on Monday and say 'You need to explain this.'"

Mercado arrived on a 4-0-1 heater and fought the final round like he needed it to win, taking the initiative in the first minute and driving a less active Utria across the ring. Utria looks largely sapped of energy and is still looking for one shot to change/end the fight.

A slap of the gloves with a minute left was another indication of Mercado's confidence and he pressed the accelerator in the final minute on the way to a 97-93 edge on B/R's card.

Stay tuned and remember Utria is the house fighter.

Mercado said before the fight that his advantage would be evident if the fight went late, and his work in the seventh made that seem prescient. Utria had only gone as far as eight rounds once entering this fight. Mercado, who arrived with a loss and two draws on his record, continued a maddening tendency to fight in spurts in the eighth, which analyst Sergio Mora suggested was the reason he's had so many close results.

Mercado looked like the more confident fighter in the ninth and B/R has noticed the uptick in his body language as he's worked to a three-point lead (87-84) on its scorecard.

Utria was back on the front foot and scoring well to the body in the fourth round, the product, according to analyst Sergio Mora, of Utria spending three months in Mexico during his fight prep. Mercado was busier again in the fifth but the most memorable shots of the round were a pair of overhand rights—one midway and one late—from Utria.

Utria began the sixth looking for one big shot but he did score well in the round's back half, landing a hard left to Mercado's body that clearly had an impact.

It's all even on the B/R card—57-57 on points—through six rounds.

Utria stalked Mercado in the opening round and scored well with a left jab while staying out of range for his opponent's replies. The Colombian stayed offensive in Round 2 behind a double jab that was often followed by overhand rights, while Mercado began making more of an effort to move his hands and shorten the distance between them.

The exchanges were a bit more frequent in the third and Mercado seemed to be gaining confidence as he stayed busy and eluded Utria's tries for a difference-making shot.

It's 2-1 for the underdog, Mercado, on the B/R card.

The first ring walks on the main card belong to super lightweights Utria and Mercado, who are scheduled for 10 rounds.

Utria, 22, is 14-0 with 11 KOs since debuting as a pro in 2023, while Mercado has one loss in 16 career fights (13-1-2) and hasn't lost since 2021.

As opponents go, it wouldn't be a stretch to suggest Lopez and Romero are friendly.

But that hasn't stopped Lopez, never shy when it comes to microphones, from suggesting he'll be not only victorious but violent in the main event.

"I'm going to beat the living dog s--t out of Rolly Romero," Lopez said.

Looking to cash out on tonight's card? Well, we can safely guess it isn't based on an expected windfall from the main event.

Though Lopez is considered a solid favorite by many experts, he's "only" a -300 proposition to win according to the folks at DraftKings, which means it'd take a $300 wager to earn an extra $100 if he wins the fight.

Romero, meanwhile, is a +230 underdog, so it'll take a $100 outlay to generate a $230 payout if he's indeed able to spring the upset.