​HOLLYWOOD, CA — Premier Boxing Champions has officially joined DAZN’s boxing lineup, and the promotion is placing 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, broadcast live on DAZN and Prime Video pay-per-view. The showdown stands out as one of the headline fights in what both sides describe as a multi-fight partnership years in the making. It comes on the heels of Errol Spence Jr.’s July 25 matchup with Tim Tszyu in Australia, the first PBC card to air under the new deal.
Britton Hardin, DAZN’s head of boxing in North America, spoke at Thursday’s press conference announcing the DAZN-PBC alliance. The gathering took place at Hollywood’s Avalon, where DAZN broadcaster Chris Mannix outlined what the deal means for a sport that has spent years consolidating around a handful of streaming homes. Hardin called PBC the final major piece needed to bring nearly every top promoter under one roof, a roster that already includes Matchroom, Queensberry, Top Rank, Golden Boy, and Boxxer. Tom Brown of TGB Promotions emphasized that the addition of PBC, together with Al Haymon’s stable of champions, provides networks with a pathway to matchups that simply weren’t possible when boxing’s biggest names were scattered across competing platforms.
A key component of the day’s conversations was the decision for Lopez to move up a weight class rather than pursue a rematch in his current division. The former two-division world champion who stunned Vasiliy Lomachenko to unify the lightweight division back in 2020 is stepping into the welterweight realm for the first time in his career, after a decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in January. The anticipated rematch path effectively closed Thursday when Zuffa Boxing confirmed Stevenson had signed a multi-fight deal. Yet Lopez’s team appeared unfazed, framing the move as deliberate rather than desperate. Co-manager Keith Connolly said Lopez declined an easier route back toward the top and instead pursued a direct shot at a reigning titlist, presenting the August 22 bout as the vehicle for a third-division title and a stronger case for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
Connolly used the press conference to emphasize Lopez’s calculated strategy and the significance of the upcoming fight in shaping his legacy. The event underscored a broader shift in boxing’s distribution landscape, with the DAZN-PBC union representing a critical step toward unifying major promoters under a single platform, at least for a substantial portion of the sport’s marquee action. The August 22 card at T-Mobile Arena is positioned as a centerpiece of that collaboration, a statement bout that signals the potential for a more integrated and accessible era of professional boxing.