By Dan Ambrose: Lightweight Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero’s 12 round unanimous decision win over Jackson Maríñez (19-1, 7 KOs) last Saturday night has shaken up the boxing world due to the controversial scoring by the three judges that were assigned to the fight at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME)
The three judges. Glenn Feldman, Frank Lombardi, and Don Trella gave Romero (12-0, 10 KOs) a 12 round decision win that many fans and fighters totally disagreed with.
Sadly, the judges not only got the scoring wrong in the eyes of a lot of people, but they were seemingly off by a mile in scoring it fairly wide in favor of what should have been the losing fighter Rolly.
Romero sees no point in giving Marinez a rematch
At the end of the bout, the three judges gave it to Romero by the scores 115-113, 116-112, and 118-110. With the win, Roermo is now the interim WBA lightweight title.
“There’s no point. He didn’t do anything special,” said Rolando Romero when asked if he’ll give Jackson Marinez a rematch.
“He threw more jabs than me but that’s about it. You seen a lot of videos with me with them. So it’s going to be a walk down the hill for all. My trainer told me, my corner told me, everyone told me, so I won the fight.
“He was very defensive and he didn’t want to engage. It’s very hard to knock out somebody that doesn’t want to engage at all. I thought I won the fight regardless of everything. I’m the world champ now. I hurt him multiple times. I landed the harder and better shots,” said Romero.
After the fight, Oscar De La Hoya, Ryan Garcia, Jermell Charlo, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Devin Haney all reacted to Romero’s controversial win with the following comments:
Ryan Garcia: “LMAO, damn, robbed without a gun,” said Ryan Garcia on Rolly’s win over Marinez. “Rollie’s corner lied to him all night. Man, that was bad.
Devin Haney: Bank Robbery
Gervonta Davis: Rolly a**. That’s f**** up!! What the f***?
Oscar De La Hoya: “This guy should never mention your [Ryan Garcia] name every again. @Ryan Garcia, politics at it’s best. This guy should be ashamed. He should actually give the belt back to him or give it to him. As a fighter my self, I am ashamed of this Roller guy if he thinks he won.
@KingRyanG forget about this clown we have bigger fish to fry.
Jermell Charlo: Robbery. IDGAF.
Teofiimo Lopez: “Hell yeah, #TheNew SignUp4KOS Congratulations Champ.”
WBA president talks Romero-Marinez rematch
While Rolly Romero might not be interested in giving Jackson Marinez a rematch, World Boxing Association president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza spoke up almost immediately last Saturday night, saying this on social media: “I just spoke with both teams and we are going to study the possibility of a rematch.”
Mendoza has to say something because it’s the WBA’s title that the 24-year-old Rolando Romero just won lat Saturday night, and it looks bad for them if they don’t insist on making a rematch.
Romero might not want a second fight with Marinez, and you can understand why he wouldn’t, but the WBA has to do something to quiet the controversy.
It’s unclear what three assigned judges saw in the Romero vs. Marinez fight that made them score the fight the way they did. Boxing News 24 had Marinez winning in a one-sided affair by 10 rounds to 2 scores.
Romero was throwing wild haymakers all night long, making a lot of noise each time he threw, but getting countered by the more technical Marinez. The difference in boxing skills between the two fighters was shocking.
Rolly was nowhere near as talented as Marinez, and that seemed obvious from the first 20 seconds of the fight. That’s why it’s so troubling how three experienced judges could get it so wrong as the ones that worked the Romero-Marinez match last Saturday.