By Dan Ambrose: Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe maintains Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero is the second-best lightweight in the division behind Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and that he would knockout Ryan Garcia within three rounds.
Ryan’s name was brought up last Saturday night at the post-fight press conference in relation to him being a potentially viable option for Tank Davis’ next title defense at 135.
However, Ellerbe was having none of it, dismissing the idea of the unbeaten highly ranked #2 WBC Ryan (22-0, 18 KOs) challenging Gervonta for his trap.
Ellerbe sees no point in putting a fight together between Tank and Ryan because he doesn’t feel that the popular social media star from Victorville, California could even beat Rolly (14-1 12 KOs).
On top of his belief that Ryan couldn’t hang with Rolly, Ellerbe says he already twice unsuccessfully attempted to put a fight together between him and Tank Davis in the past.
At this point, Ellerbe doesn’t see it as worth pursuing a third try at putting a lucrative match together between Tank & Ryan.
It’s unclear if Ellerbe has a defeatist attitude or he simply doesn’t want to deal with the hard work of putting a fight together between Ryan and Tank.
Ellerbe has got an easy chip shot fight to make between Tank and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in a rematch. That would be an easy one for Ellerbe to make, but obviously, it would bring in far less money than a Tank vs. Ryan fight, which would sell huge on pay-per-view.
Pitbull doesn’t have 8.8 million followers on social media like Ryan Garcia, and Tank already beat him last December by a 12-round decision at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“Rolly Romero would probably knock Ryan Garcia out within three rounds,” claimed Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night.
It’ll be interesting to see who Tank Davis winds up fighting next because he needs a serious upgrade in competition before he begins fading as a fighter.
Tank didn’t look that great against Rolly last Saturday nor did he look impressive in his fight before that against Pitbull Cruz last December. Whether that’s a sign of wear & tear or perhaps Tank losing his hunger for the sport after making millions is unknown.
“No doubt in my mind,” said Ellerbe when asked if Rolly is the second-best lightweight in the division. “As I said, Tank is a special fighter. There are not many guys that can punch & box like Tank.
“Tank is a complete fighter, and he does everything really, really, really well, and he has a lot of experience. So when you look at the other lightweights out there, I’m rolling with Rolly. He’s too strong.
“If you can’t punch, he’s going to walk right through you. They all know Tank Davis is the best,” Ellerbe said when told that Teofimo Lopez, Shakur Stevenson, and Ryan Garcia attended his fight against Rolly last Saturday night.
“That’s respect. All of those are excellent fighters, and that’s a sign of respect. Tank doesn’t go to their fights. I’m just keeping it 100,” said Ellerbe.