By Matt Lieberman: Rolando ‘Romero’ Romero called out Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for a fight following his seventh round knockout win over Anthony Yigit last Saturday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Rolly wants to fight Gervonta (25-0, 24 KOs) and knock him out to take his place on the throne at 140.
Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) successfully defended his WBA interim lightweight title with a three-knockdown seventh round stoppage of sub Yigit (24-2-1, 8 KOs) in the chief support bout on the Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano card on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing.
With the spotlight on him, the 24-year-old Rolly Romero told Jim Gray of Showtime that he wants to fight Gervonta Davis at 140 and win his world title.
Rolly is with the same promoter at Mayweather Promotions, making it an easy fight for them to make if they’re so inclined. Rolando wants to move up to 140 and challenger Tank for his WBA ‘regular’ light welterweight title.
While that’s a secondary belt, it’s still an excellent start for Romero to get him ready to challenge the four-belt undisputed 140-lb champion, Josh Taylor.
Rolly shocked boxing fans in the post-fight interview by telling Jim Gray of Showtime, “I want Gervonta Davis at 140. I want him at 140—time to stop him. I’m going to knock him out.
“I know it is [believable]. I know what he can do, but I know what I can do. I’m a lot stronger.”
You can’t question Rolly Romero’s courage, as he’s calling out one of the best fighters at 140. But that’s not all. Romero says he wants to fight WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney and Jorge Linares.
Devin Haney = Rolly’s Plan-B option
“His loss was to a former world champion [Ivan Baranchyk], and I destroyed him compared to a former world champion,” said Rolly Romero at the post-fight press conference reflecting on his win over Yigit. “It was a brutal knockout; it was really nasty.
“I want @Gervontaa at 140… I’m gonna knock him out.” – @SignUp4KOs
#RomeroYigit— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) July 18, 2021
“I wanted Devin Haney,” said Rolly when asked who he wants if he can’t get a fight with Gervonta Davis.
“And I want another world champion. I want a world champion so I can get another belt. Haney is always vocal on social media but doesn’t fight anybody, so who cares?
“I’ll fight Devin Haney; he’s chinny as hell. He got hurt with venom gloves. That’s a joke. He didn’t just get hurt. He didn’t recover.
“It was like four rounds, and he didn’t recover,” said Rolly Romero about Haney’s recent title defense against Jorge Linares in which he was hurt.
“Linares is nowhere near a puncher like me. Haney, he’s probably the chinniest fighter at 135 and one of the most chinniest in the sport. He’s the Amir Khan at 135.
It can’t make Devin Haney too pleased to hear Rolando talking bad about him to the media, but it at least gives him a target to go after.
Haney can let his promoter Eddie Hearn know that Romero is interested in fighting him if he can’t get the Gervonta fight.
There’s zero chance that Rolly will get a fight against Tank Davis, though, because their promoters at Mayweather Promotions aren’t going to want to mess things up for one of them.
Most would agree that Tank is too far advanced right now for Rolly to have a good shot at beating him. But given a couple of years of development, Rolly could potentially beat Tank.
Rolando has to work on his defense because he gets too easily for his own good. Yigit landed a lot of shots to the head of Rolly last Saturday night, but lucky for him that he couldn’t punch.
Rolly expects his power to increase at 140
“I’d be way stronger,” said Romero when asked how much stronger he’d be if he moved up to 140. “I’m a big boy for 135. I just fought a 140-lb Olympian [Yigit], and I gave him an extra five pounds.
“I took him on short notice. He was in the rankings for a reason. He was my replacement just in case my other fight didn’t go through, which I mean that guy [Austin Dulay] is a coward.
“But that’s something completely different. So, he [Yigit] was in the rankings for a reason, and he was my replacement. He was getting ready for me. I wasn’t getting ready for him. I took that fight on a week’s notice.
“Any experience is good experience,” said Rolly. “I wanted to get him out in the first round, but I’m f**** crazy. I want to get everyone out in the first round. I’m happy I got the experience, but if I got him out in the first round, I would have been ten times happier, I’ll tell you that.
“It was a different style with his European style,” said Romero in reflecting on Yigit’s fighting style. “Europeans are really awkward. He made things difficult, and as I said, he’s a bigger dude,” said Rolly.
That was a bad mismatch last Saturday night, unfortunately. Rolly was put in with a guy that wasn’t in his league in Yigit, and that’s not the type of fight that will help him.
If Rolly is serious about fighting Tank Davis at 140, he’s got to take on these types of fighters to prepare him:
- Subriel Matias
- Jeremias Ponce
- Regis Prograis
- Pablo Cesar Cano
- Arnold Barboza
- Jose Ramirez
- Ivan Baranchyk
- Viktor Postol
- Jose Zepeda
- Jose Pedraza
- Shakhram Giyasov
- Gary Antuanne Russell
- Robert Easter Jr
If Rolly Romero cannot beat those guys, he doesn’t belong inside the same ring as Tank. Matias, Prograis, or Russell would be an excellent next fight for Rolly to use as a yardstick to see where he’s at.
“I’m already a star. Whenever I go somewhere, everyone treats me like I’m a star,” said Rolly Romero. “I back up everything I say. I’m going to do it.
“It’s a very easy fight to make,” Romero said about a fight between him and Gervonta Davis. “There’s Devin Haney and Jorge Linares.”
It would be an easy fight to make between Gervonata and Rolly, but it’s unlikely that it’s going to happen.
