The fight was scored a lot tighter than it looked, as judges had the contest 116-112 and 115-113 in favor of Lopez, while the other had it a draw at 114-114.

Lopez (23-2, 13 KOs) outlanded Romero 124 to 73 and was the much busier fighter, throwing 532 punches, 178 more than his rival.

Romero (17-3, 13 KOs) infrequently showed the sense of urgency required to successfully defend his title since scoring an upset win against Ryan Garcia 15 months ago, especially after a momentum-shifting fifth round in which he rocked and nearly dropped Lopez while causing a cut near his right eye.

With the valiant victory, Lopez, bounced back from a one-sided loss to Shakur Stevenson in January to become the WBA welterweight titleholder in his divisional debut and three-weight world champion.

“If you lose and you come back, you never lost, because you're a winner," Lopez said in the ring after the fight.

"I'm a winner. I'm a true example of what winning is. It ain’t about losing; it’s about never giving up. The scorecard, I couldn't care less because at the end we got victory.”

“There was a shot that he hit me with where it woke me up, and I told him right there, ‘You got to do better than that. I just kept saying, ‘You ain't gonna take me out. It's not that easy.’”

Lopez can now focus on title unification fights against WBC champion Ryan Garcia, who first must get past Conor Benn on September 12, and against WBO crownholder Devin Haney and IBF titlist Liam Paro.

Read Nate Pardo-Marrero's full fight recap here.

Here's how the judges saw it.

Lopez has a disciplined final round, outlands Romero 10 to two, and raises his hands as the final bell rings while embracing his friend Romero. Lopez should be a three-division champion as soon as the scores are announced in a matter of moments.

Romero continues to fight off his back foot as Lopez has his way with him, ending the round with a Superman punch and a shimmy. Romero needs to land lightning in a bottle and get a knockout to secure the win and retain his WBA welterweight title.

Lopez lands a big right hand and backs up Romero with about 45 seconds remaining in the round. Romero retreats as Lopez banks another round with blood dripping down the right side of his face. Romero hasn't won a single round since his best moment in the fifth.

Why Romero is not throwing more is puzzling. When he lands, he scores, and as he proved in the fifth round, he hurts Lopez, too. But the strategy he's employing isn't making sense as he continues to fall behind on the scorecards. Lopez is doing just enough to bank these uneventful rounds -- he landed six punches to Romero's five in the round.

Romero has another quiet round, and Lopez keeps piling on the punches to certainly score another round on the cards. Lopez outlanded Romero 11 to three in the round. Romero is going to be incredibly upset at himself after the fight if he doesn't pick up the pressure.

The second half of the fight has officially started. Romero regains some momentum, but he's not landing shots with volume. Lopez is landing more, but Romero is connecting with the more thudding punches. It will be interesting to see how the judges are scoring these kinds of swing rounds.

Lopez's face is a crimson mask, so much so that the blood has transferred to the face of Romero. Lopez appears to be back in the fight, however, and is charging forward and landing jabs and body shots to regain the respect of Romero. Lopez outlanded Romero 15 to eight in the round.

Romero changes the entire complexion of the fight by rocking and nearly dropping Lopez with a right hand over the top. A left hook from Rolly follows and cuts Lopez's eye, and blood starts gushing out. We have a real fight on our hands now! Teofimo Sr. says "we needed this" as they are now forced to answer a serious wake-up call.

Lopez continues to be responsible and calculated and is steering clear of running into anything. On the other hand, Romero is still trying to land one big shot at a time, and does so with a left hook in the final 30 seconds of the stanza. But Lopez could be up four rounds to none a third into the fight. Romero trainer Ismael Salas implores his fighter to let his hands go in the corner before the fifth round.

Romero is practicing incredible patience, looking to crack Lopez as soon as he throws. Romero is also reacting to almost every feint from Lopez. But it's Lopez who is actually busier and landing, doing so at the tune of eight to three punches in the frame.

Lopez unleashes a straight right hand, but Romero keeps him honest with a check left hook. Lopez increases the activity, pushes the pace, and begins to target the body of Romero. Lopez outlanded Romero 13 to seven in the round, but Romero is keeping him honest with the quick counters. Teofimo Sr. instructs his son to keep his right hand up in the corner.

A feel-out first round unfolds as a combined eight punches connect without a consequential blow. Romero nearly hits Lopez with a shot as the bell sounds, which prompts referee Harvey Dock to deliver a warning.

Nearly a dozen kids donning belts usher Teofimo Lopez Jr. during his ringwalk under Kanye West's "Power." Lopez is wearing a jacket that reads "Make Boxing Great Again."

Rolando Romero's ringwalk is calmer, but the WBA welterweight crownholder and Las Vegas native clearly has the crowd in his corner.

If you have some hard-earned cash that is burning a hole through your pocket and are fired up to make some bets, here are the up-to-the-minute odds, according to DraftKings.

Lopez is a -300 betting favorite, while Romero is a +230 betting underdog. A draw is listed at +1400.

Yoenli Hernandez is a scary man, with or without a mask. But don't tell that to Francisco Daniel Veron, who became just the second fighter to hear the final bell against the Cuban crusher.

Hernandez (11-0, 9 KOs) looked human yet comfortably beat Veron (17-2-1, 10 KOs) by majority decision via scores of 99-91, 98-92, 95-95. Judge Steve Weisfeld scoring the fight a draw was certainly a head-scratcher.

Hernandez connected with 200 of 649 punches, while Veron valiantly fought back and connected with 105 of 809 punches.

The win should serve as a learning experience for Hernandez as he continues to level up in the middleweight division.

Yoenli Hernandez is dominating Francisco Daniel Veron, but not without eating some punches, too. Hernandez ate heavy leather toward the end of the fifth but held up well. So far through seven rounds, Hernandez has outlanded Veron 139 to 73.

After the first two fights on the PPV main card went the distance, Cuban destroyer Yoenli Hernandez came out guns blazing in the first two rounds and is looking like his usual ferocious self against Francisco Daniel Veron. Hernandez has outlanded Veron 40 to 23 over the first two frames.

Former two-division titleholder Zolani Tete, who was shot and killed in South Africa on Friday, and Prichard Colon, who died on August 13 nearly a decade after suffering a brain injury during a fight, were honored with a ten-bell salute before the co-main event.

Cuban power-punching middleweight Yoenli Hernandez, The Ring's No. 2-ranked middleweight, is ready to make his case that he's the best 160-pounder in the world.

Before his co-main event fight against Francisco Daniel Veron begins, let's take a look at the not-so-marvelous middleweight division, a weight class that currently has a stench that couldn’t be cured with a Marvin Hagler deodorant stick.

Rolando Romero and Teofimo Lopez are protecting their moneymakers ahead of battle.

After 11 one-sided rounds, Gary Antonio Russell rocked and dropped Victor Santillan with the first punch he threw, a clubbing right hand, in the final round.

Russell was looking to score the stoppage win for the rest of the round, but the emphatic win escaped him in a fight that featured mostly one-way traffic.

Russell was awarded scores of 119-108, 119-108, 118-109, and a WBA interim 122-pound title for his efforts.

CompuBox credited Russell with landing 233 of 665 punches and Santillan with 107 of 593.

Gary Antonio Russell is dominating Victor Santillan and pitching a shutout so far through six rounds in their WBA 122-pound interim title fight.

It's a family affair, as WBA junior welterweight titleholder Gary Antuanne Russell is supporting his brother from ringside while Gary Russell Jr. is in the corner coaching his younger brother.

It's a family affair for Teofimo Lopez Jr. as he enters the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas looking to become a three-division champion.

Carlos Utria was incredibly fortunate to sneak by with a split decision victory against Israel Mercado via scores of 97-93 of 96-94, while another judge had it 96-94 in favor of Mercado.

Utria improved to 15-0 but clearly needs more seasoning if he's going to make his mark at the world level.

Mercado, who fell to 13-2-2, should hold his head up high and get another solid opportunity after his showing.

Here are the punch stats, according to CompuBox:

Utria: 152 of 593

Mercado: 157 of 587

Israel Mercado is here to fight! Carlos Utria hasn't clearly separated himself yet, and Mercado has been competitive. I have it 3-3 through six rounds. The sixth round was the best so far for Utria, who properly showcased his power.

Utria has fought past the sixth round only one time in his career. Can he kick the fight into second gear to seal the deal?

The PPV undercard is officially underway with a 10-round, junior welterweight scrap between Colombia's Carlos Utria and Southern California's Israel Mercado.

Utria is almost a 10-1 betting favorite in his PBC and United States debut despite coming in nearly one pound over the contracted weight limit.

The undefeated Utria claimed the WBC Grand Prix at 140 pounds last time out in December. The victory capped off a 2025 campaign for Utria that featured five wins in the tournament, three of which came against previously unbeaten opponents.

Let's see if the success translates in the next chapter of his career.

I'm confident that you've cleared your entire Saturday night to follow along with the fights on the live blog. 

If your plans change and you want to actually watch the fights instead, please allow me to direct you in the right direction. 

If you already have the DAZN Ultimate Plan, simply log in to your account and enjoy the fistic festivities. 

If you don't, you can watch the event by subscribing to the DAZN Ultimate Plan at $49.99 per month.

Or, you can purchase the pay-per-view as a stand-alone event for $79.99 on DAZN or Prime Video. 

I interviewed both of the fighters, attended the kickoff press conference, watched their appearances on the Mr. Verzace Podcast, and seemingly digested every word that was uttered between Rolando Romero and Teofimo Lopez Jr. heading into this fight.

Here are some of the sound bites that caught my attention from my one-on-one interviews. 

"There were so many other fights I was trying to give to the fans, but Teofimo was the actual one who was not scared. He'll fight anybody. Same thing with me – I'll fight anybody. 

"Did I pick Teofimo? No. The last thing I wanted to do is go fight my friend. He's my little brother. The enemy is my little brother and someone who I love very dearly. He was the last one on my list."

"God doesn't make mistakes. The delay was meant to be. I needed the delay, I needed the time off. I had to be reborn again in Christ, and I did. I had to die to myself, which I did die to myself when I was reborn in Christ. 

"I was keeping busy by training out of boredom. I mean, what else am I gonna do? Just be at home, do nothing, play video games and eat potato chips? There's only so many vacations I could go on, and the money gets boring."

"A fight is a fight, and I like big fights. I'm a hometown hero. It's time to represent my city, and it happens to be against Lopez, who was the only one left."

"Romero is at that level of Lomachenko and Stevenson. He's a champion for a reason. He's a three-division titleholder for a reason. 

"People tend to think of his style and how he looks when he fights. But the guy finds a way to win. So we miss out on those things by discrediting how they look. It's not how you look. It's how you win, and it's how you move on from it. He's a tough competitor. He's the toughest guy that I'm facing at 147 pounds. I think everyone knows that, and we're here to step up to the plate and take over."

"Everything against Stevenson happened exactly the way it needed to happen. Now we're here. We didn't miss a beat. We just got elevated to something bigger and better. 

"I am always confident that I will be victorious. I know that with training and everything that I'm aligning with, it's time for me to really step up to who I am." 

"I truly believe that my legacy-defining fights will be in the welterweight division. When it's all said and done, I can confidently say that I am going to be an undisputed welterweight world champion."

"We're going to get into these fights. I made a direct deal with DAZN, the network itself, with Takeover Promotions. So we're not under the other promoters. We are the promoters at the same time. That means we have a lot of great responsibilities now, and I look forward to making boxing great again.

"I always give better performances than anybody else. We'll see what happens."

Age: 30

Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada

Record: 17-2, 13 KOs

Nickname: Rolly

Total rounds fought: 96

Knockout ratio: 76 percent

Height: 5 foot 8

Reach: 68 inches

Weight: 146.6 pounds

Stance: Orthodox

Trainer: Ismael Salas

Turned Professional: 2016

Notable wins: Ryan Garcia

Notable losses: Gervonta Davis, Isaac Cruz

Age: 29

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York 

Record: 22-2, 13 KOs

Nickname: The Takeover

Total rounds fought: 161

Knockout ratio: 59 percent 

Height: 5 foot 9

Reach: 68 ½ inches 

Weight: 147 pounds 

Stance: Orthodox

Trainer: Teofimo Lopez Sr. 

Turned Professional: 2016

Notable wins: Vasiliy Lomachenko, Josh Taylor, Arnold Barboza, Richard Commey, Sandor Martin, Jamaine Ortiz

Notable losses: Shakur Stevenson, George Kambosos Jr. 

My name is Manouk Akopyan. I'm the Lead Writer for The Ring, and I'll be keeping up with everything happening in Las Vegas tonight for the PPV event available via DAZN and Prime Video PPV, as Rolando Romero seeks a successful first defense of his WBA welterweight crown against Teofimo Lopez.

Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs), a two-division Ring and unified champion, has insisted he's on the hunt for undisputed status at welterweight, while Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) knows a win can help him regain the momentum earned after upsetting Ryan Garcia nearly 16 months ago.

We'll see how this all plays out throughout the course of the night!