Rolando Romero vs Teofimo Lopez

Rolando Romero against Teofimo Lopez has all the ingredients of a great fight: two unpredictable characters, old sparring-room needle and enough defensive holes to keep both corners sweating. Romero defends his WBA welterweight title in Las Vegas, while Lopez steps up looking to become a three-weight champion. Rolly is crude, awkward and technically untidy, but that makes him dangerous. He carries real spite in the right hand and showed against Ryan Garcia that he can disrupt quicker fighters and punish mistakes.

Romero must make it ugly, lean on Lopez, punch with him and test whether Teofimo can take welterweight power on the whiskers. Lopez is the cleaner operator, with faster feet, sharper counters and better punch selection, but he can wait too long for the perfect opening. Neither man is Fort Knox defensively, so there should be some hairy moments. Romero has early success, but Lopez gradually exposes the gaps and takes a points decision to win his third division title.