Gervonta Davis vs. Rolly Romero = 50-50 fight says Leo Santa Cruz

By Boxing News - 10/27/2021 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Leo Santa Cruz sees the December 5th fight between WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero as a 50-50 fight due to the two of them having massive power.

Tank Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) is expected to be a massive favorite against the unbeaten Rolly (14-0, 12 KOs) when they meet in the headliner on SHOWTIME Boxing PPV at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Although the 24-year-old Rolly is awkward and inexperienced still, he’s huge for the 135-lb weight class and looks more like a welterweight than a lightweight.

Rolly’s punching power is that of a 147-pounder, and he’s going to be a problem for Tank if he can hang around long enough to put hands on him.

In looking at Rolly’s recent workout video this week, he appears to be a solid 160+ lbs, and it’s hard to believe that he can cut all that muscle weight to compete at 135.

As big as Rolly is, he really should be competing at 147, not lightweight. Rolly’s size will make him a threat to Gervonta for as long as he’s in there.

With someone that big and powerful, Rolly has got a chance to beat the much smaller 5’5 1/2″ Tank Davis. Size-wise, Tank is more of a natural 130-pounder rather than a 135-pounder, and he’s going to be giving away massive size against Rolly on the night.

We don’t know if Rolly will be weight drained from cutting nearly 30 lbs of muscle & water to get down to 135.

TANK VS. ROLLY = 50-50 FIGHT

“It’s a great fight.  Tank is a great fighter, great power. I fought him, he beat me, but he’s a great fighter, and Rolly is another great fighter, and he has power too,” said Leo Santa Cruz to Fighthype on the Gervonta Davis vs. Rolando Romero fight on December 5th.

Image: Gervonta Davis vs. Rolly Romero = 50-50 fight says Leo Santa Cruz

“I think in that fight, there’s going to be bombs,” Santa Cruz continued. “They’re going to be trying to knock each other’s heads off.

“They’re going to give everything allowed, and I don’t think that fight is going to go 12 rounds, and I think it’s going to be a knockout.

It could go either way because they both have the power, but the thing is, I think Rolly, it’s the first time he’s going 12 rounds or the second time, and he already fought 12 rounds.

“I think he [Rolly] gasses out a little bit, but it could go either way.  It’s going to be a good fight, and I can tell it will be a great fight.

“Tank beat me. If we have a fighter that beat me, I want him to do good. That way, I can say, ‘I lost to one of the great,’  and hopefully, Tank goes and takes it,” Santa Cruz said on pulling for Gervonta.

SANTA CRUZ TO FIGHT IN DECEMBER

“Me, I’m here to still fight the best,” said Santa Cruz when asked who he wants to fight. “There’s Oscar Valdez out there. Whoever they put me against,  I’m not scared of nobody, and I’ll say yes to anybody.

“Hopefully,” said Santa Cruz when told that he’ll be back in the ring in December. “We’re getting ready for, and hopefully, it could be that date.

“They told me that they’re trying to put a date in December. Hopefully, I will get back in December.  I’m getting ready for that date, but whatever happens, happens, but I’m getting ready,”  said Santa Cruz.

For Santa Cruz’s sake, he needs to hope that his promoters match him against a non-puncher in his fight in December because he’s coming off a bad sixth round knockout loss to Gervonta last October.

They’ve done well to allow Santa Cruz to recover from his knockout by waiting 14 months before scheduling his next fight in December, but still, you don’t know how he’ll react to getting hit after the way he was knocked cold by Tank.

Ideally, Santa Cruz needs to fight a light puncher from the bottom of the super featherweight division’s top 15 rankings. You don’t want to put him in with anyone with an ounce of power because it could end badly.

SHAKUR STEVENSON LACKS AGGRESSION

“I watched a little bit,” said Santa Cruz when asked if he watched Shakur Stevenson’s fight last Saturday night against Jamel Herring. “Shakur is a great fighter, and he has great skills and everything.

“He’s really, really perfect. The only thing is he’s not one of those types of fighters that is [all] action that goes [forward and attacks], but he’s a great fighter.

“He’s got great skills and a great punch and everything, and he made it look easy. He’s fast, quick, and has great punches.

“He knows how to take the rhythm and everything, and as I said, if he had the aggression, all-out Mexican that goes out and destroys you, he would be perfect,” said Santa Cruz of Stevenson.

It’s doubtful that Shakur Stevenson will change his fighting style to become the aggressive fighter that Santa Cruz and many other boxing fans would like to see from him.

After all, Shakur has fought the same safety-first style since his amateur days, and it’s unrealistic to assume he’s going to change now that he’s in his mid-20s.

SHAKUR TOO SAFETY FIRST

Stevenson’s fighting style will hurt his chances of getting the fights he wants against guys like Oscar Valdez and the top fighters North of the 130-lb division at 135, like Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

Interestingly, the fight Stevenson can get, Vasily Lomachenko, he doesn’t seem interested in taking. What does that tell you about Shakur?

Ultimately, Stevenson will fall short of becoming a massive star and will become Top Rank’s next Gullermo Rigondeaux.

Promoter Bob Arum was probably ecstatic when he first signed Stevenson after he came out of the 2016 Olympics, believing he would be a can’t-miss star, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

If Stevenson fails to leap to stardom, Arum might want to consider cutting his losses and dropping him rather than hoping that the boxing public will embrace him like they did Floyd Mayweather Jr. many years ago.

Mayweather was a rare case where U.S boxing fans embraced a pure boxer rather than a  slugger, which they generally prefer to see.

YouTube video