What Actually Happened the Night Teofimo Lopez Dethroned Lomachenko?
In October 2020, Teofimo "The Takeover" Lopez walked into a fight as a significant underdog against Vasiliy "Hi-Tech" Lomachenko, widely considered the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet at the time. When the final bell rang, Lopez walked out as the unified lightweight world champion in what promoter Top Rank Boxing immediately called one of the biggest upsets in modern boxing history.
With Lopez set to return to the ring on Saturday, August 22 at T-Mobile Arena against WBA welterweight world champion Rolando "Rolly" Romero, Top Rank has re-released the highlight reel from that iconic night — and the debate it has reignited six years later is just as fierce as the original bout.
What Did the Judges Actually See That Night?
Here's where it gets messy. The official scorecards handed Lopez a wide victory, but the numbers never quite matched what many ringside observers and casual fans witnessed. Lomachenko, nursing a shoulder injury going into the fight, was slow out of the gate — but the consensus among a loud portion of the boxing community is that he controlled enough rounds to deserve at least a narrow split decision.
The fight's legacy essentially breaks down into two camps:
- Pro-Lopez: He controlled range, landed the cleaner power shots early, and imposed his physical advantages effectively.
- Pro-Lomachenko: Loma's footwork, volume, and ring generalship in the later rounds arguably outweighed Lopez's early dominance, making the wide scorecards hard to justify.
The truth, as is often the case in boxing, sits somewhere in an uncomfortable middle ground.
How Are Fans Reacting to the Replay in 2026?
The comments section under Top Rank's re-upload makes it clear that time has done nothing to settle the score. The reaction is almost uniformly sympathetic toward Lomachenko, with fans still carrying serious grievances about the judging.
"Lomo won robbery by judges" — @earth.angel.gideon (7 likes)
"Tim Bradley saying 'he hurt him' when nobody was hurt influences opinion. Loma won clear as day. The rounds Teo 'won,' nobody landed." — @jdvlanka265 (7 likes)
Those two comments represent the most-liked responses on the video, which is telling. The criticism of ringside commentary — specifically the claim that Tim Bradley's excitable calls framed moments as more decisive than they were — adds a layer of media criticism to what was already a contentious result.
Even fans who acknowledge Lopez's performance seem to accept only a narrow victory:
"I still don't get it. Why was the scorecards that wide? I believe he made it close in the later rounds. A 115-113 or 116-112 kind of fight." — @itsmedaley
A smaller minority defends Lomachenko outright:
"Loma win this fight" — @Instrybutor94 (2 likes)
The sentiment is consistent: even those who accept a Lopez win largely reject the margin.
What Does This Mean for Lopez vs. Romero on August 22?
Top Rank's decision to re-surface this highlight package is classic fight-week marketing — remind casual fans of Lopez's star-making moment right before he steps into another high-profile bout. It's smart promotional work, and it's clearly generating engagement.
But the strategy carries a double edge. By putting the Lomachenko fight back in front of millions of viewers, Top Rank has also re-opened the question of whether Lopez's ascent was built on a foundation as solid as his promotional material suggests. The casual boxing audience tuning in for Lopez vs. Romero will walk in with at least some awareness of the controversy.
Rolando Romero is a puncher with genuine knockout power and the kind of aggressive style that could exploit any defensive habits Lopez has developed at welterweight. If Lopez wins convincingly on August 22, the Lomachenko debate fades further into the background. If he struggles — or loses — those comment sections will be impossible to ignore.
Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena isn't just a title fight. For Teofimo Lopez, it's another audition in front of a jury that still hasn't fully made up its mind about him.