In desperate times, they both had each other to pick themselves up.

On the latest episode of "Inside The Ring," which aired Monday on DAZN, Romero said that Lopez gave him $5,000 to help him get on his feet in 2019. Their friendship will be put aside on August 22 when Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) defends his WBA welterweight title against Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on DAZN PPV and as part of the DAZN Ultimate Plan.

After Lopez’s one-sided but lackluster unanimous decision over Masayoshi Nakatani in July 2019, Romero said he called the Brooklyn native to congratulate him. Lopez, 29, told Romero he was going to quit boxing despite being on the cusp of a title shot against Richard Commey.

Lopez saying he was going to hang the gloves up drew ire from Romero.

“He tells me that he's gonna quit boxing, and I get mad and I curse him out,” Romero said. “I was like, ‘Dude, you're about to fight Richard Commey and become more champion, bro. You're about to achieve your dream, my dream, your family's dream. You're gonna achieve everybody's dream. You're gonna quit, bro?’

“I cursed him out because it really pissed me off. I was like, ‘Nah, bro, you better not quit boxing, bro. You better go win your world title. And he's like, ‘Yeah, I'll think about it.’ I'm like, 'No, you better not quit. You better win your world title.'"

Lopez won his first world title when he stopped Commey in the second round to become the IBF lightweight champion in December 2019.

The tables quickly turned when Lopez asked Romero how he had been. Romero, 30, showed Lopez the broken he sustained in his fourth-round knockout of Andres Figueroa in April 2019.

The Las Vegas native tried to brush it off and say he’d be fine, but sensing the difficulty of Romero’s situation, Lopez sent him $5,000.

“It's hard, but I'll find a way,” Romero recalled from his conversation with Lopez. “I'm a hustler, and out of nowhere he just sends me $5,000. I was like, ‘Teo, I'm gonna send this back. I'm good.’ He's like, ‘No, for you,’ and he tells me how much money he made.”

Months earlier, Romero said he began reading the Wall Street Journal and trading stocks. He put $1,000 into his account, and it doubled to $2,000. After paying his rent and buying other necessities, he put the remaining money into his stocks.

“All the wealth I've acquired today starts from that $5,000,” Romero said.

Romero and Lopez’s friendship has been at the forefront of their build-up to August 22. However, Romero maintains that friendship won’t stand in the way of him trying to defend his title for the first time.

“That [doesn’t] mean I don’t want to punch him in the face,” Romero said. “Boxing is fun. You never just want to punch someone in the face? There’s nothing wrong with punching people in the face.”

Romero last fought in May 2025, upsetting Ryan Garcia by unanimous decision at Times Square in New York to win the interim WBA welterweight title. He was later elevated to full champion when former titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis moved up to 154 pounds.

Lopez is seeking to become a three-division champion in his first fight at 147 pounds. He lost his WBO and Ring 140-pound titles in a one-sided unanimous decision defeat to Shakur Stevenson on January 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York.