Teofimo Lopez and Rolly Romero to headline PBC's first title fight on DAZN

HOLLYWOOD, CA. — Premier Boxing Champions officially became part of DAZN's boxing lineup on Thursday, and the promotion is putting one of its biggest titles on the line early in the new relationship. Teofimo Lopez will challenge Rolly Romero for the WBA welterweight title on August 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, live on DAZN and Prime Video pay-per-view, one of the headline fights in what both sides are calling a multi-fight partnership years in the making. It follows closely behind Errol Spence Jr.'s July 25 clash with Tim Tszyu in Australia, the first PBC card to air under the new deal.

The announcement came together at a press conference in Hollywood at the Avalon, where DAZN broadcaster Chris Mannix walked through what the deal means for a sport that has spent the last several years consolidating around a handful of streaming homes. DAZN's head of boxing in North America, Britton Hardin, called PBC the final major piece needed to bring nearly every top promoter, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Top Rank, Golden Boy and Boxxer, under one roof. TGB Promotions' Tom Brown said the roster PBC brings, along with Al Haymon's stable of champions, gives the network a pathway to matchups that simply were not possible when boxing's biggest names were scattered across competing platforms.

There is added weight behind why Lopez is moving on from 135 rather than chasing a rematch. Lopez, a former two-division world champion who shocked Vasiliy Lomachenko to unify the lightweight division back in 2020, is coming off a decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in January and is jumping up to 147 pounds for the first time in his career. That rematch path effectively closed Thursday when Zuffa Boxing confirmed it had signed Stevenson to a multi-fight deal. It is clear that Teofimo's team was ready to move on however and called his welterweight move calculated rather than desperate. 

Co-manager Keith Connolly said Lopez turned down an easier option to build back toward the top and pushed instead for a direct shot at a reigning titleholder, framing the fight as the vehicle for a third division championship and a stronger Hall of Fame case. Connolly also used the presser to highlight a separate, groundbreaking piece of business: Lopez becoming the first fighter without a promoter to sign a direct deal with DAZN, a deal he credited to attorney Jared Cass.

Romero, for his part, has not fought since stopping Ryan Garcia last May to claim the welterweight belt, and he made clear the layoff was intentional. He said he needed the time to reset mentally and physically before stepping back in against a fighter he has known for years. Trainer Ismael Salas was blunt about how he sees the matchup, calling it close to a perfect style clash given how often Lopez pushes forward with his chin up, and TGB Promotions' Tom Brown described the fight as the kind of dream matchup that fits perfectly with launching a new network relationship.

What separates this fight from a typical title defense is the history between the two men. Lopez and Romero have sparred together for years and were once close, a friendship that has clearly curdled. Lopez's father and trainer, Teofimo Sr., traded pointed jabs with Romero's camp throughout the press conference, at one point recalling the exact night after the Stevenson loss when Romero told him to move his son up to welterweight. 

Lopez himself leaned into the theatrics, going live on Instagram mid-presser and declaring the matchup a referendum on his career, framing it as either the beginning of a new chapter or the end of an old one. Romero, when asked about any lingering personal issues, shrugged off the tension in his own way, calling Lopez his little brother and saying he would rather lose or defend his title against him than anyone else in the division.

On the actual game plan, Romero kept it simple, saying his job is to hit Lopez and avoid getting hit back. Lopez pointed to his 2023 win over then-undefeated undisputed champion Josh Taylor as proof he can handle offensive-minded fighters, and noted that a fight with Devin Haney once fell apart, a fact he chalked up to Romero's reputation as a difficult stylistic matchup for anyone at 147.

The card slots into what is shaping up as a stacked opening stretch for the DAZN-PBC partnership, which also includes Errol Spence Jr. facing Tim Tszyu on July 25 in Australia and Claressa Shields defending against Lani Scott on August 15 in Atlanta. Presale tickets for Lopez-Romero are available now through AXS.com with code PBC, with the general on-sale beginning Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific.