LAS VEGAS — The pressure was on Teofimo Lopez. It came from all sides. It was there, on both sides of the ropes. It was there, in his past and his future, a double-edged presence dangerous to reputation and livelihood. There was no escape.
So,, Lopez did what he could only do.
He embraced the danger poised by skeptics created by his one-sided loss to Shakur Stevenson.
He embraced the risk that came with a new DAZN deal worth a reported $20-million.
And, above all, he embraced the decision to move forward against a friend and fighter with power enough to destroy his ambition and crush his credibility. There were moments when it looked as if Rolly Romero would do exactly that. He rocked Lopez early and late. He cut midway, leaving him with a stream of blood pouring down one side of his face. But this time the wound was just a price to be paid for all that was at stake.
Lopez prevailed, scarred face and all, winning a majority decisions on score card debatable only because they failed to reflect how big his victory really was.It was 114 – 114 on one card. On the other two, both for Lopez, it was 115-113 and 116-112.
“I could care less about the scorecards,” Lopez said after taking Romero’s welterweight belt in his first fight at 147 pounds..
Only winning mattered for Lopez, who entered the ring faced by an either-or scenario.
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” he said. “When you lose and come back, you;’never lost. You’re a winner. I’m a winner.”
He was Saturday because of his willingness to walk straight into a tactic that Romero set up as a trap. Once, Lopez stepped in, Romero’s plan was to unleash his power. It worked in the fifth round, opening a cut near Lopez’ right eye. But the blood, a nasty reminder of what happened to his face against Stevenson, was a bad sign.
But Lopez continued to move forward, certain he would eliminate that possibility. Slowly yet surely, he turned Romero’s measured defense into a liability. In the final few rounds, Romero appeared to back way as just an escape.
After it was all over, Romero questioned the scorecards. He also suggested they were close enough for a rematch.
No, Lopez said.
He has already moved on, to a future he fought to protect.
Yoenli Hernandez wins majority decision
Yoenli Hernandez’ reputation — fearless and powerful — preceded him.He was advertised as the next great middleweight.
But reputation and advertising are suddenly on hold, because of skilled Argentinian Francisco Daniel Veron, who didn’t beat him yet might have shown a way how to Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Veron (17-2-1, 10 KOs) withstood the power, stood up under the Cuban’s strength and took him to the scorecards, losing a 10-round majority decision at T-Mobile Arena. One judge scored it a draw, 95-95. The other two judges saw a different fight, one favoring Hernandez, 98-92, and the other, 99-91.
Hernandez’ raw strength was impossible to ignore. Harder to see was an effective jab from Verson, who used it repeatedly to keep him at distance. In the fifth round, a Veron hook knocked Hernandez off balance. He often made the Cuban look awkward, never often enough to prevail,
Dull to dynamic, Russell scores 12th round knockdown
For eleven rounds, it was deadly dull.
For one — the final one,there was sudden drama.
Gary Antonio Russell put some life into a fight and probably woke up a lot fans with a right hook that punctuated a junior-featherweight bout like an exclamation point Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The shot from the resilient Russell (21-1,13 KOs) dropped Victor Santillan ((16-3, 7 KOs), who fell to the canvas slowly. The crowd and perhaps Russsell would have been happy if it had ended then, Somehow, however, Sabtijjangot up just as some in the crowd woke up, A few moments later it was over, and Russell left the ring with a unanimous decision and an interim 122-pound champion in a division dominated by pound-for pound No. 1 Naoya Inoue.,
Carlos Utria gets win and boos
Carlos Utria got the victory.
Got the boos, too.
Utria (15-0, 12 KOs) overcame some late fatigue and sporadic rallies from Israel Mercado often enough to escape with a split decision, an unpopular one , too — Saturday in the pay-per-view opener to a card featuring Teofimo Lopez-Rolly Romero at T-Mobile Arena.
The junior-welterweight fight figured to be close, And it was,, one fighter gaining momentum and the other regaining it ,from round to-round. After the 10th and final round, it looked as if it might be a draw. But two judges said no, both favoring the Colombian, 96-94 and 97-93. The third scored it 96-94 foot Mercado (13-2-2, 7 KOs).
A gathering crowd disagreed loudly, booing Utria as he left the ring.
Marco Romero overwhelms in Vegas debut
Marco Romero introduced himself to Las Vegas.
You might of missed it.
Within three minutes, Romero said goodbye to Khalil Mitchell (7-1, 4 LOs) and hello to Vegas Saturday on the Teofimo Lopez-Rolly Romero card at T-Mobile Arena, Romero (15-0, 13 KOs), a middleweight prospect from Kansas, overwhelmed Mitchell , of Chattanooga,in a fight stopped at 2:33 of the first round.
Joseph Brown’s dances to victor, gets booed
Joseph Brown, a prospect who has sparred with Boots Ennis, is unbeaten and — by the sound of it — unlikable,
Brown (8-0, 6 KOs) got booed after turning in a dominant performance for a one-sided decision over Alton Wiggins Saturday on the card featuring Teofimo Lopez-Rolly Romero at T-Mobile Arena.
Wiggins (3-3-1), of Modesto CA, never had a chance against Brown’s powerful rightt-hand.It was a rout, no reason for a celebration. Brown did anyway, dancing in the center of the ring. Scattered boos were hisreward.
Aldo Blancas, a Milwaukee prospect and a David Benavidez stablemate, flashed some Benavidez-like hand speed, scoring s second-round knockdown with a body shot and went onto win a one-sided decision over Ricky Mamone
First Bell: Benjamin Johnson opens show with dominant decision
It started with more people in the ring than the seats.
That didn’t bother Maryland welterweight Benjamin Johnson (8-0, 8 KOs).
He dominated, landing solid shots that echoed throughout an empty T-Mobile Arena for a unanimous decision over Gabriel Rodriguez (4-4-1, 3 KOs), of Ecuador, in a Saturday matinee, the opening bout on a card featuring Teofimo Lopez-Rolly Romero
