“This ain’t even going to be close. This is a damn mismatch, man,” Bradley said on his channel. “Natural instincts, fast-twitch muscles, speed, power, counterpunching ability. He about to smoke Rolly Romero. For real, y’all banking on a miracle for Rolly. Seriously, he got a puncher’s chance. That’s it.”
Bradley still sees the wild and defensively vulnerable Rolly who lost to Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz. He also seems to picture Teofimo as the same fighter that defeated the older, smaller Vasiliy Lomachenko at 135 pounds in 2020. He hasn’t looked like that fighter since his loss to George Kambosos Jr. five years ago. Moving up in weight to 140 took away what made Teofimo successful. His size advantage over his opposition.
Rolly has filled out and looks like a genuine welterweight at this point in his career, and he looks younger at 30. Although Lopez is a year younger at 29, he appears older. Some of that could be the grueling fights he’s had during his career beginning to show,
Size-wise, Teofimo still resembles a lightweight fighting above his natural division. His power did not carry cleanly to 140, and moving up another seven pounds will not restore it. He’d been able to disguise the lack of size with the opposition he’s been matched against. Teo wasn’t put in there with the likes of Oscar Duarte, Keyshawn Davis, Richardson Hitchins, Ernesto Mercado or Andy Hiraoka.
Easy work is what Bradley expects if the Teofimo who defeated Barboza turns up. That version may not be enough against a naturally bigger man who can take his punches and hurt him in return. The flaws Teofimo managed at 140 may become far more costly at 147.
Moving up still makes financial sense. The most valuable fights are there, and beating Rolly would place Lopez near Devin Haney, Conor Benn and a Ryan Garcia fight. A defeat may not eliminate those possibilities because his name and accomplishments at lightweight and light welterweight retain value. This is a profitable risk for Teofimo. Bradley is taking a different one by trusting a picture of both fighters that may no longer exist.
Read the full article here
