Ending a 15-month absence, Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) will make the first defense of his WBA welterweight title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to headline a DAZN and Prime Video PPV event.

But for now, that honor goes to Ismael Barroso, who pushed Romero to the brink of elimination before the bout was abruptly and wrongfully called to an end.

Although Romero was stopped by Gervonta Davis in 2022 and Isaac Cruz in 2024, and scored a win last time out against Ryan Garcia in May 2025, he said his bout against a then-40-year-old Barroso was by far the most taxing.

"I'll tell you straight up that my hardest fight to date was Barroso – nobody ever brings him up," Romero told The Ring. "He was by far the hardest puncher I ever faced. He doesn't even compare. But all of those fights were hard. At that level, every fight is hard.

"Someone like Ryan Garcia, who is an amazing fighter, I made easy work of him. Tank is an amazing fighter, and I was playing with him until he caught me. You never know who you'll have the hardest fight against until you're facing them in the ring. You expect something, and then something else happens."

Against Barroso, Romero was down on the cards by one, three and five points after eight rounds when referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight amidst a simple exchange in the ninth. Although he was outlanded 57-47 in a fight against a fighter 13 years his senior at the time, Romero escaped.

After dropping Garcia for a unanimous decision, Romero believes he's the boogeyman of the 147-pound division, moving across the board like a chess player.

"The last thing these guys wanted to do was fight me," he said. "These guys are calling themselves kings, but they are queens. I am a knight. I'm now in a position where they'll get delivered to a smothered mate in embarrassing fashion. Imagine getting trapped in your own pieces by a knight? You shouldn't even be in the game. You should have gotten traded off for a bishop. I'm a three-point piece check-mating these guys."

Romero is talking a big game as if he's Bobby Fischer because Garcia didn't move forward with a rematch, and negotiations against Manny Pacquiao, Devin Haney and Conor Benn weren't positioned properly and eventually got pawned off.

"All of them were close to happening. They all just pulled out at the last moment," Romero said. "We had the whole rematch set, and Garcia didn't want to do it; he fought Mario Barrios instead. If I were Garcia, I wouldn't have rematched, either. What was he gonna do differently? If he threw more punches, he would have gotten knocked out. Haney didn't want to fight, either. He was scared. They are still going to hide even after I beat Teofimo."

Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs), who Romero has labeled as a dear friend, was the last resort when it came to landing a desired dance partner.

However, Romero said he's ready for his fate if "The Takeover" rocks him better than Barroso to walk away with the win.

"This fight is going to go however God wants," he said. "If He wants me to lose my belt, I'd rather lose it to my little brother than anyone else."

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan