By Max Schramm: Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero wants a title shot against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis at 135 or preferably 140. The unbeaten Romero (13-0, 11 KOs) maintains that he hits harder than Gervonta (25-0, 24 KOs) and that he can “hurt” him.
WBA interim lightweight champion Romero, 24, says he’s the biggest puncher from 135 to 140 right now, and he’s capable of knocking out anybody in the division.
Next Saturday, Romero will be defending his interim WBA 135-lb title against Austin Dulay (14-2, 10 KOs) in the co-feature bout on July 17th on the undercard of Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Carlos Castano on Showtime Championship Boxing.
Rolando Romero needs to clear up the controversy
Romero still has many critics stemming from his controversial 12 round unanimous decision win over Jackson Marinez (19-2, 7 KOs) last August 2020 in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The judges scored it for Rolly by 116-112, 118-110, and 115-113. However, the boxing world had Marinez winning the fight comfortably.
Where Romero and his promoters slipped up is their decision not to give Marinez a rematch to try and clear up the controversy.
Romero needed to fix things with something like that by showing the boxing fans that he is the better fighter, but he failed to make that move.
As a result, the controversy from that fight has tarnished Romero, taking away a lot of the shine that he otherwise would have.
At this point, it;’s too late for Romero to go back and attempt to rectify what happened because Jackson Marinez was knocked out in six rounds by Richard Commey earlier this year in February.
The only thing Romero can do now is to face Commey to show that he can beat him.
Rollie Romero wants Gervonta at 140
“If he comes back down to 135, that’s the fight I want,” said Rolando Romero to Fighthype on a clash against Gervonta Davis. “I want Gervonta Davis; that’s what I want.
“It’s a fight that can be made for sure, so hopefully, the fight can happen at 135 or even at 140. Actually, I want that fight at 140. I like 140 a little bit better, and I want to win belts in multiple divisions.
“So 140 would be a great move too. I’m still a world-level fighter, and I’m the hardest puncher in the world under 147 pounds.
And so nobody can say s*** about it,” said Rolly Romero when asked if he needs to get more experience before fighting Tank Davis.
There’s an excellent chance that Romero will get a fight against Gervonta Davis because his promoters at Mayweather Promotions want to keep him fighting in-house competition.
Romero will be an obvious choice for Gervonta to fight, given that Floyd Mayweather Jr doesn’t want to match him against any outside promoters.
There won’t be much buzz for a Gervonta vs. Romero fight, but that’s the path that Mayweather promotions have chosen for Tank to keep him from taking losses.
Romero insists he can hurt Tank Davis
“I can hurt him. Gervonta has power; he can crack; I can’t take that away from him. But like I said, I’m a harder puncher, I’m longer, I’m awkward. Like I said, he’s like this f*** tall,” said Rolly Romero in motioning that he’s short.
“So it’s going to be very interesting. I’m very explosive. It’s too explosive fighters, but I’m more explosive.
“I’m going to win the fight by a boring split decision,” said Romero about his fight next Saturday against Austin Dulay on July 17th. “Well, that’s what everybody likes now.
“That’s what boxing is now. It’s just a bunch of boring fights with three punches per round and a lot of holding, right?
“That’s what everybody likes, so that’s what I’m going to give them. But that’s what everybody likes.
“That’s what people are paying for apparently, no? Holding is a skill, but, no,” said Rolly Romero in response to being told that ‘skills pay the bills.’
Romero does have the power to hurt Gervonta, but it’ll be difficult for him to knock him out. Gervonta is fighting at a higher level than Romero right now, and it might be a mismatch.
Rolly not worried about becoming undisputed
“If I become undisputed, I become undisputed. It’s kind of hard when people don’t take fights with me,” said Rolando Romero. ”
If it happens, it happens. Floyd [Mayweather Jr] was never undisputed, and he’s the greatest fighter of all time.
“I can unify belts. Getting four belts, it’s a lot more political than what it is. Maybe down the line, hopefully, but I doubt that I’ll have that, especially at 135. I can do that [unify], but I need the opportunity.
“If I’m not getting the opportunity, it’s not going to happen. I’m not in no rush. I got my belt [WBA interim lightweight title].
“Hopefully, like I said, I get another belt soon, but I’m not in a rush for anything. I’m already on the top dog list, so it’s going to happen when it’s time,” said Romero.
Before Romero starts talking about becoming undisputed, he needs to win his first real-world title. The WBA interim 135-lb belt that he possesses now doesn’t count.
For Romero to capture all the belts, he will need to go through these guys: Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Vasily Lomachenko. There’s a fair chance that Rollie loses to all of those guys, particularly Lomachenko and Teofimo.
Jermell Charlo beats Brian Castano, predicts Rollie
“I think [Jermell] Charlo because he’s the better boxer of the two,” said Romero when asked about his prediction on next Saturday’s main event between Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano.
“He [Charlo] can crack, they both can crack, but I think Charlo is the better boxer. He’s a boxer/puncher. The other guy [Castano] is just more aggressive.
“He [Castano] can break him down. We saw what happened with the other Charlo [Jermall] brother. It was a very hard fight [against Juan Macias Montiel] for him.
“That fight honestly was a lot harder than it needed to be. Charlo looked overworked more in that fight than in other fights.
“I mean, you can say that fight [Jermell vs. Castano] is more of a pick ’em fight, but I think Charlo has more in his toolset.
“He [Charlo] is explosive, and he can crack. It’s going to be a good fight, but I just think Charlo is a better fighter [than Brian Carlos Castano],” Romero said.
It’s an excellent fight between IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and WBO champion Brian Castano. You can’t rule out a win for Castano (17-0-1, 12 KOs), as he’s got the Shawn Porter style of fighting that Jermell has never seen before.
We’ve already seen what happened to Charlo when he fought Tony Harrison in 2018, and he struggled in beating him in the rematch.