By Sean Jones: Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero predicts that undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. will lose ALL his titles in his next fight and be belt-less.
Rolly feels that Kambosos will see his 15 minutes of fame ended when he defends his four straps in the first quarter of next year.
Kambosos will remain popular after he’s dethroned
It won’t be the end of the world for Kambosos WHEN he loses his titles because just having won them means he will remain popular long after getting beaten, which, as Rolly says, will be in his next fight.
There’s a professional wrestling aspect about boxing in which once a fighter beats a significant star, they’re viewed as de facto champions by the public. It doesn’t matter if they have belts.
The fighter is seen as the equivalent of being a champion by the casual and hardcore boxing fans.
For example, look at Ryan Garcia and David Benavidez. Neither of them is world champions, yet they’re treated with the same reverence as the world champions.
Heck, Benavidez is viewed as the # 1 fighter at 168, even though Canelo Alvarez just became the undisputed champion after beating four paper champions.
What a huge waste of time for Canelo in collecting those titles, believing that they would validate him in the eyes of some casual boxing fans.
Even without Rolly saying that the 28-yer-old Australian Kambosos will be a one-hit-wonder, it’s already being predicted by many boxing fans.
Kambosos says he wants to fight only the big names in his first fight as a four-belt champion, but it’s difficult to see anyone he can beat.
These fighters would likely beat Kambosos badly:
- Gervonta Davis
- Rolly Romero
- Ryan Garcia
- Devin Haney
- Shakur Stevenson
- Oscar Valdez
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Michel Rivera
Kambosos (20-0, 10 KOs) shocked the world by defeating IBF/WBA/WBC Franchise/WBO lightweight champion Teofimo on November 27th in an upset in New York.
At that time, it was seen as a great victory for Kambosos, but it’s since been learned that he had fought with a life-threatening medical problem for Teofimo, which made it difficult for him to breathe.
Rolly: Kambosos will lose ALL his belts next fight
“I’m mandatory for Kambosos. Nobody cares about Kambosos,” said Rolly Romero on social media. “He’s going to give them all back to somebody else in his next fight.
“People talk about Kambosos like he’s something special. I guarantee you, and it’s sad to say, he’s NOT going to be there much longer,” said Rolly in keeping it 100.
“Y’all can trust me because Rolly would never like to you. Rolly can’t even lie to himself. That’s my problem. I’m too honest,” said Rolly.
It’s hard to disagree with Rolly about his prediction of Kambosos losing his belts in his first fight as the champion. Unless Kambosos backs off his stated wish to fight a top talent, he’s going to get beaten.
Kambosos’ promoter Lou DiBella should go for the best money fight he can, knowing that his fighter will probably get beaten. Ryan Garcia or Tank Davis would seem like ideal options for Kambosos.
Of course, if Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn throws some ridiculous money at Kambosos like the $7 million that he offered Jermall Charlo to fight Demetrius Andrade, Kambosos would be crazy not to grab it to face WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney.
It’s unlikely Kambosos will beat Haney, but the money he gets will set him up for life.
World title belts DON’T matter anymore
“In this day and age, belts don’t mean s*** in boxing,” Rolando Romero continued. “With you being an actual star, it’s as simple as that. Boxing is not about belts anymore.
“We have 20 f*** belts, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, all that s***. Belts don’t mean s*** in boxing. I’m telling you, he’s going to get knocked out in his next fight,” said Rolly about Kambosos.
“In the reality of everything, belts don’t mean s*** in boxing anymore. Who are the highest-paid athletes right now? The YouTubers are making the most money [in boxing] right now, and they don’t got a belt.
“At any given moment, they can just take your belt away, and it’s happened to a bunch of us,” said Rolly. “I’m not complaining because I don’t care that much because I’m still the best fighter in the world at 135 pounds.
“While we’re talking about belts, Devin Haney literally emailed somebody [WBC] and got a f*** belt. Did you know that Devin Haney lost in Mexico?” said Rolly.
Nowadays, the belts only matter for unknown guys to validate them in the eyes of fans. Once you’ve picked up a fan base, the titles no longer matter. That’s why you saw Floyd Mayweather dumping his belts later in his career because he no longer needed them.
If a fighter has charisma, talent, and knows how to work on social media, it doesn’t matter if they ever win a world title. They can have a trinket belt like the ones Ryan Garcia has won, and they’ll still have a considerable following.
Sanctioning bodies = The Octopus
Sadly, Rolly is correct about belts no longer matter to the boxing public. A big reason for that is the total mess the sanctioning bodies have created with the numerous paper titles they’ve designed to increase their revenue streams.
The sanctioning bodies are like a giant octopus, creating titles that have made it easy for run-of-the-mill fighters to capture their belts. In return, the money for sanctioning fees from those belts is snatched up by the octopus tentacles to feed it.