By Dan Ambrose: Teofimo Lopez is impressed with hearing the news that Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero will be taking on Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on December 5th on Showtime pay-per-view at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Teofimo believes Rolly (14-0, 12 KOs) has what it takes to defeat Tank Davis, thanks to his vast punching power.
He believes this could be too much of a step up for Tank, who has fought chiefly smaller guys since he moved up to 135.
In Tank’s two fights in the lightweight division, he’s faced former 126-lb champion Yuriorkis Gamboa and Leo Santa Cruz, who started his career at 118.
This is going to be a brutal fight for Rolly, 24, because he’s facing a guy that much better than anyone that he’s fought during his short five-year pro career.
Although Rolly can punch hard, he’s not a polished fighter and looks almost uncoordinated at times inside the ring.
They say Rolando is “awkward,” but he also looks a tad bit uncoordinated, but he does hit hard. Of course, so does Tank, and he’s a much better boxer.
Tank facing his first natural 135-pounder
“It’s amazing. Shout out to both guys putting it on the line, and congratulations to Rolando Romero. He really does deserve it,” said Teofimo Lopez to Fighthype.
“Rolly is definitely with someone that is shooting for that, and he doesn’t care who it is and who is in front of him.
“It’s a great fight for him, and a great fight for everybody because Rolando is a great puncher, a real heavy puncher, especially in my division, and so is Tank Davis.
“But Tank Davis has yet to face someone like that. That’s a natural 135-pounder. When Tank Davis fought guys at 135, he’s fighting guys [Yuriorkis Gamboa and Leo Santa Cruz], he’s fighting guys at 130 and 126 and some going up to 135.
“So never anyone that was solid and been 135 for maybe for six years or those four years. That’s his natural weight. So it’s going to be a great fight.
“It’s all about styles make fights, of course, but someone is definitely going down,” said Teofimo about the Tank Davis vs. Rolly Romero fight.
Gervonta just beat 5’10” Mario Barrios, taller and hits almost as hard as the 5’8″ Rolly Romero.
If Tank was able to handle the power of Barrios, it’s reasonable to assume he’ll be able to take Rolando’s strength at 135 or 140. We don’t know what weight the Tank vs. Rolly fight will be held at.
Teofimo fails to mention that his excellent friend Rolly has never fought anyone remotely close to Gervonta talent-wise.
It’s going to be a significant undertaking for Rolly to face a fighter as good as Tank after fiddling around in the pro ranks for the last five years.
You guys are the judges. Here are Rolly’s last seven opponents:
- Anthony Yigit
- Jackson Marinez
- Avery Sparrow
- Arturs Ahmetovs
- Juan Carlos Cardones
- Andre Figueroa
The only recognizable fighters of that bunch are Marinez, Yigit, and Sparrow, and those aren’t major players, and they’re more like B-level opponents for the A-level fighters to beat up.
The thing is, Rolly should have lost to Marinez because his win over that guy was highly controversial in August 2o20.
Teofimo betting $100K on Rolly
“I’m putting 100,000 on Rolly,” Teofimo continued. “I’m putting 100,000 dollars on Rolando Romero.
“I just feel like Tank is a solid fighter, and he’s very stylistic with it and everything. However, he’s careless. With a puncher like Rolando, as long as Rolando has confidence in him.
“I can bet on the guy and root for him, or I could put 100,000 on Gervonta Davis and root for him.
“But I know where I’m staying at. I know how they feel about us, and they want to lie. He’s doing what he has to do, and that’s part of it but consistency.
“But look at what he’s doing in the off-season when he’s not fighting. He’s blowing up [getting fat].
“That’s not discipline. You’ve got to have self-discipline in this. Kobe [Bryant] didn’t stop in the off-season. He kept going. The reason I say Kobe is because he was the last influential person,” said Teofimo.
I wonder if Teofimo is on the level about him putting $100K on Rolando to win because that sounds like a crazy bet.
You can argue that Rolly will be a massive underdog in this fight, and unless he gets lucky and lands something big, he’s going to get massacred by Tank.
With a bet like that, Teofimo might as well have a bonfire in his front yard and burn the $100,000 because that’s pretty much what he’s doing by betting on Rolly.
