Following his split decision loss to George Kambosos Jr. in November 2021, Lopez argued that remaining at lightweight too long contributed to the upset. After losing his Ring Magazine and WBO light welterweight titles to Shakur Stevenson by wide unanimous decision on January 31 at Madison Square Garden, he reached a similar conclusion.

Teofimo makes his welterweight debut against WBA champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero on August 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with DAZN carrying the event.

Asked what he expects from the move to welterweight, Lopez suggested his body had already outgrown 140 pounds.

“I’ll just be more comfortable in there,” Teofimo said on the Mr. Verzace Podcast. “I think there’s a point where if your body’s not in it, your mind won’t be as well. At junior welterweight it was great, but I think I stayed there for too long.

“I just tried to make the best fights happen. To be real, I did not need to take my previous fight, but I did it for the fans. I realize that when I do things for the fans, it nips me in the bud a little bit. I did that for Kambosos and for this one [the Stevenson fight]. When I do what I’m destined to do, it’s a lot better for me in my career. Welterweight has just been screaming out loud.”

That logic leaves a glaring question. Teofimo looked physically strong against Shakur. His biggest problems came from struggling to solve Stevenson’s movement, defense and timing rather than fading under the strain of making weight. The same explanation surfaced after the Kambosos loss, making this the second time Lopez has blamed staying too long in a division after a major defeat.

Now he gets an opportunity to prove the issue really was weight.

Rolly already spoiled the plans of another former champion when he outboxed Ryan Garcia to claim the WBA title in May 2025. Lopez enters with ambitions of becoming a three-division world champion, but another defeat would make it much harder to argue that weight was the primary issue.

“This is my road to undisputed once again,” Teofimo said. “The first stop is Rolando Romero on August 22.”