live blog<\/a> below.<\/p>\nBoth men out in orthodox. Lopes swatting Romero\u2019s lead hand immediately. Long range from both men, putting out feelers. Neither committing to anything early, and both backing out when their opponent swings. Lopez on the front foot more, but neither man has landed a meaningful punch with 60 seconds left.<\/p>\n
Romero is trying to set up a roll and counter, and Lopez is being cautious as he starts backing Romero up. Romero tries to come in and eats a counter right hand for his troubles, then he follows up with a right hand just before the bell, and that\u2019s enough to steal the round.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez.<\/p>\n
Both men punching the others\u2019 lead hand now. Romero doesn\u2019t look comfortable in there and Lopez moving him back comfortably now. Romero trying to back him off by showing the counters, but Lopez growing in confidence, and lands a nice right hand.<\/p>\n
Lopez being aggressive and lands to the body as Romero misses the counter shot. And another. Lopez dipping to the body and Romero\u2019s big counter shots have yet to land. So he leads to the body and it lands. But Lopez is working consistently now, and again a right hand to the body. Then gets Romero to the ropes and again. Romero looks slower in there and he\u2019s waiting too much. Nice right hand from Romero on the counter, but the left misses and Lopez again lands to the body.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 20-28 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Romero really wants the counter left hook, and he\u2019s probably focused too much on it. Lopez is keeping his right hand high, and he\u2019s working both levels confidently. Lopez lands a sharp right on the counter. When Romero does lead, Lopez is ready to respond. And he keeps going to the body.<\/p>\n
Now Romero is trying to take the initiative with long shots to the body, but they seem a little awkward. He just doesn\u2019t look very comfortable in there. And he\u2019s biting on feints, every time. Romero does land a decent right hand when Lopez gets too deep on his pressure, but he can\u2019t follow up. Another body jab and now our first clinch. It\u2019s short and Lopez presses forward to steal the round, and a body shot might do just that.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 30-27 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Lopez with a night 1-1-2 to start. Romero still looks uncomfortable as Lopez methodically walks him down. Romero lands a decent right hand, and then a left. He\u2019s really not committing to these shots though, he tags and bails. Lopez tries to come in but they clinch. Now Lopez gets to the body. He\u2019s fighting a very disciplined fight, working with the jab and then to the body.<\/p>\n
OH! Romero finally gets that counter left hook off and it lands cleanly. Lopez takes it well, but that\u2019s the shot Romero has been looking for all night and he finally gets it. And then gets a nice body shot shortly afterward. His lack of activity is costing him, but perhaps Romero can build off that.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Romero, 39-37 Lopez overall<\/p>\n
On the replay, Lopez actually was able to slip off that left hand more than it appeared. Still Romero\u2019s best punch of the fight, but Lopez mitigated it decently well.<\/p>\n
Lopez back on the march with a three piece. He\u2019s fighting very smart, winning rounds, and keeping his defense up, and if Romero doesn\u2019t change the energy, he\u2019s going to lose a lackluster fight. He gets a pair of left hands off this round and Lopes is cut over the right eye! Now the crowd is coming alive and Romero is gaining in confidence. He smells blood!<\/p>\n
And OH! Romero swinging away as Lopez is in survival mode! Lopez goes down but it\u2019s a push. They get back up and Romero is on the hunt. Lopez tries to get aggressive back and eats another but he backs Romero up a bit and makes it to the end of the round.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Romero, 48-47 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Lopez has his wits about him in the corner as his corner tells him he was playing around too much. Cut appears to be small but just over the right eye. We\u2019ll see how the cutman did as the round goes on.<\/p>\n
Lopez comes out taking the lead and the crowd is chanting \u2018Rol-ly!\u2019 but he\u2019s not taking the lead. And Lopez digs a nice one to the ribs as Romero keeps backing away, drawing him in. He is not punching almost at all right now and Lopez comes in aggressively but Romero blocks most of it. Romero not doing much and letting Lopez simply out-work him this round. Lopez getting a little reckless almost as he tries to chase Romero down, who is fully retreating.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 58-58 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Lopez back to pressing and jabbing and Romero is back to doing nothing. Can\u2019t imagine a worse way to follow up the big round he had in the fifth. And now Lopez tags him with the right. And then another. Romero very much looks like he doesn\u2019t want to commit to anything. And Lopez is just coming forward and working, while Romero kind of circles and moves away. Romero tries to sit down and crack back, but Lopez gets the better and moves out.<\/p>\n
Romero is simply not fighting. This is very frustrating to watch as Lopez starts getting after him and then eats a big check hook just at the bell that gets a reaction. Romero could be doing better, but he\u2019s not trying.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 68-65 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Romero is going to lose this fight by simply not doing enough. He\u2019s landing a few decent shots per round, but basically those are the only punches he\u2019s throwing. Lopez with a nice pair of body shots off a dip. The dynamic is simple, Lopez is working and Romero is not. And Lopez lands a nice left hook around the guard. Romero\u2019s face looks straight up confused. He\u2019s not moving away at least, but still not punching.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how many more ways to write \u201cLopez is coming foward and punching, landing occasionally, while Romero is doing nothing.\u201d Now Romero comes forward and tries to lead, but Lopez counters him nimbly. Tough scenes for Romero. We get a brief clinch then more jousting.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 78-74 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Romero on the front foot now, and that\u2019s a nice change. But will he throw? He\u2019s waiting for the perfect shot, and those are few and far between. Lopez with steady diet of jabs and then right hands to the body. The crowd is getting a little restless as the pace has slowed and the action is minimal. Lopez keeps chipping in, and Romero keeps doing nothing.<\/p>\n
Lopez is not exactly putting on an offensive display here, but Romero is simply doing nothing. I\u2019d love to see his stats because he\u2019s maybe landed 5 punches this round and thrown twice that. Meanwhile, Lopez has kept working.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 88-83 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Romero is showing zero reaction in his corner. They are trying to bring him to life, and he seems to be out in space. Maybe he just doesn\u2019t want to fight his friend?<\/p>\n
Lopez doesn\u2019t mind, and he\u2019s out and working. Romero actually getting his jab off right now, and that\u2019s something. But he\u2019s not throwing the right now. Jab, move, stare. This is a glorified sparring session. Lopez keeps working and Romero has turned that jab up. But he needs power shots, and Lopez keeps working.<\/p>\n
And OH! BIG right hand from Lopez over the top! That gets Romero running away! Lopez\u2019s best shot of the night and he\u2019s retreating! Romero seems OK, but that had some power on it, and Lopez gaining confidence. He\u2019s on the attack to close the round and Romero is backing up, looking for a clinch to end the round.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 98-92 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
Lopez is going to win this fight. Romero does not seem engaged, and so long as Lopez doesn\u2019t get too crazy, he\u2019s going to be a three-weight world champion.<\/p>\n
Lopez not getting too crazy out there. Romero with a hook but misses. Lopez with the jab. Romero coming forward and shaking his arms out, but not throwing the punches he needs. Romero FINALLY swings and it\u2019s a Chuck Liddel overhand that whiffs hard. But then he lands a good body shot as Lopez comes forward. Lopez keeps coming forward and Romero is bouncing around, giving ground, but Lopez isn\u2019t giving him the big opening.<\/p>\n
Lopez lands a big right hand over the top and Romero tries to respond but misses. Lopez pops him a few more times and Romero has to clinch. And just before the round ends Lopez dives forward with a right hand that lands clean, and Romero counters, beckoning a slugfest on. Maybe this last round will be wild.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 108-101 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n
There is essentially no world where Romero doesn\u2019t need a finish. He\u2019s gotta get wild in here, and maybe they\u2019ll just throw down for the final three?<\/p>\n
Nope. At least not to start. Romero on his bike and Lopez walking him down. Neither man opening up, but Lopez lands a decent right hand. And again to the body from Lopez. He\u2019s chopping wood out there. Romero spamming check left hooks to no effect. Lopez keeps working. Disciplined performance from Lopez who is out-working Romero this round, too. Romero waiting and Lopez charges in, pushing Romero to the ropes. Romero simply refuses to open up, and he\u2019s gonna lose his belt on the cards. In fact, at the 10 second mark, Romero is sprinting away from him.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Lopez, 118-110 Lopez overall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch Rolly Romero vs. Teofimo Lopez full fight video highlights from their main event showdown Saturday night, courtesy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,802,1920,786,1347,785,85,14855],"class_list":["post-865235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}