The Teo and Rolly show – who wins their fight this Saturday?

Oh, these guys.

They’re young and modest.

NOT.

Actually, they can come across as beyond conceited.

Words like overbearing, pompous, smug, cocky, and supercilious fit them like a glove.

Both have Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. They’re meeting this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

But they can fight. Especially Lopez, though he’s wildly inconsistent. It’s been ten years since he debuted by knocking out Ishwar Siqueiros in Las Vegas, NV.

A few fights later, his father, the very shy Teofimo Lopez Senior, was referring to him as “The Takeover.”

Cool nickname. Lopez knocked out the capable Diego Magdaleno in seven rounds and blitzed former champion Richard Commey in two heats.

Daddy Lopez had been calling out champion Vasyl Lomachenko for a couple of years. Most ignored him, but in 2020, Lopez, the WBO lightweight champion, and Lomachenko, the IBF, WBA and Ring champion, met in an empty bubble in Vegas.

Lomachenko barely did anything for seven rounds while Lopez did enough to bank the rounds. The Ukrainian hero had entered the ring a big favorite, but the kid was beating him, though Lomachenko looked tentative. He finally got going, but it was too late.  Lopez had pulled off the upset of the year.

Father and son raved about the takeover. This was just the beginning, they said.

Lopez looked ridiculously overconfident when he fought George Kambosos Jr. in front of his fans in Brooklyn. He looked downright silly when Kambosos knocked him down in the first round. Lopez battled for 12 rounds, but it wasn’t enough. His title was gone.

He looked ok against Pedro Campa. He was lacking a Plan B against Sandor Martin.

After three poor performances, he was back in top form against Josh Taylor, winning the fight and the WBO super lightweight championship. The tentative takeover was back. Or was he?

Lopez won his next four fights in succession, all by decision, yet his critics remained unimpressed. That’s the problem when you call yourself The Takeover. Winning decisions is not taking over.

So perhaps that explains going after a fighter with superior skills, superior boxing IQ, and just plain better.

Lopez fought Shakur Stevenson last January at the hallowed Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. The fight was hardly memorable as Stevenson dominated over 12-rounds. The result wasn’t a surprise, but kudos went out to Lopez for fighting Stevenson. He decided to move up to welterweight for his next fight.

Who would be fighting? A good friend named Rolly.

“Yeah we’re friends,” replied Rolly Romero last month, ” And we know each other’s families, but none of that matters on August 22. “I’m looking to be a Hall of Famer, just like Teofimo is. The only way to do that is to go through each other!”

Hall of Famer?

Ok.

Romero, 30, is a year older than Lopez. He’s won 17 of 19 fights, while Lopez posts a record of 22-2. They both knocked out 13 opponents. The consensus is that Romero hits harder. The consensus is that Lopez has fought tougher opposition. Romero’s most important victory occurred last May, when he convincingly defeated heavily favored Ryan Garcia. His performance was a career best.

Garcia recently said, “That wasn’t me” that night, but Romero left no doubt, knocking Garcia on his keister in round two.

Romero was stopped by Gervonta Davis in 2024 and Issac Cruz twenty-four months later. He wasn’t doing too badly against Davis until he was caught and dropped in round six. Romero will enter the ring against Lopez as the underdog once again.

His cockiness has even bothered Lopez.

“I just seen something in him I didn’t like. I was like ‘oh, you cocky son of a gun.’”

Seen now?

Nah, likely Lopez doing a little promoting.

‘I’m just the better fighter,’ said Lopez.

I agree.