By Brian Webber: Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero will be headlining this Saturday, May 13th, against Ismael Barroso on Showtime in a fight for the vacant WBA light welterweight title at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas. The event starts at 9:00 p.m. ET live on Showtime.
It’s fair to say that if Rolly loses to Barroso, his career will be meteor dust, and he’ll be finished as a creditable fighter.
Rolly (14-1, 12 KOs) had been scheduled to challenge Alberto Puello for the WBA 140-lb title. Still, he tested positive for a banned substance and has since been replaced by the Venezuelan boxer Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs), ranked #1 with the World Boxing Association.
WHAT TIME IS THE ROMERO VS. BARROSO FIGHT TODAY?
- Date: Saturday, May 13
- Start time: 9 p.m. ET / 2 a.m. BST
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 11 p.m. ET / 4 a.m. BST
- Showtime will broadcast the fight in the U.S.
- The fight will take place in The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
- The main card is set to get underway at 9 p.m. ET / 2 a.m. BST with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 11 p.m. ET / 4 a.m. BST.
It’s a vital must-win fight for 28-year-old Rolly because he is coming off a sixth-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis in May 2022, and he cannot afford to lose on Saturday against Barroso.
Barroso has won his last four fights, three by knockout, since being stopped by Batyr Akhmedov in 2018. His other two defeats have come against Isa Chaniev and Anthony Crolla.
Barroso is arguably more dangerous to Rolly than Puello, as he’s a bigger puncher and has the knockout power to take advantage of his leaky defense. If Rolly fights aggressively as he did against Tank Davis, Barroso will make easy work of him on Saturday night.
Rolly is confident of victory over Barroso
“I’m going to get the victory. I’m going to go show out in front of all my people. It’s going to be the first time I have fought in Vegas in over three years. I’m so excited to be back in my hometown,” said Rolly Romero to Showtime Sports about his fight against 40-year-old Barroso this Saturday.
“Much respect for Barroso for taking this fight and giving me the opportunity to win my belt. He punches harder than Puello. I think he’s more difficult because he can crack. Anyone who can crack is automatically a difficult fight because now you got to really watch.
“If you make a mistake last time against a person [Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis] who can crack. I ain’t going to make that mistake again. Nah, it’s not going to go the distance, but if it does, who cares? I know on May 13th, I’m going to be the world champion.
“No, I don’t feel I need that,” said Rolly when asked if he thinks he needs a knockout to defeat Barroso. “I want to show everybody what I’ve been working on this last year. To turn 140 to the biggest pay-per-view division there is,” Rolando said when asked what his goal is for fighting at light welterweight.
Rolando’s talks goal for 140
“There’s nothing else but to turn 140 into a fun division because 140 is boring. Throughout history, it’s been boring a lot, especially for the last 15 years. It’s been really boring. Not a lot of stuff goes on at 140, and I think I’m the person to make it the most exciting division there is.
“I think there are a lot more fun fights at 140 than Josh Taylor and Regis [Prograis] that would really sell. That fight, I made a mistake, but I know why I made that mistake,” Rolly said about his sixth round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis last May in New York.
“It was more my body wasn’t there no more. I shouldn’t have been at 135 no more. I was trying to move up for a long time. More than anything, I did go in a little too aggressively, and I got cracked. My body didn’t recover in time.
“Do I feel like I could have continued? I do feel like I could have continued. I’m happy I’m out of that division because I’ve been trying to move up for a while. I wanted to fight him [Tank Davis] at 140 because I knew I was past 135 for a long time.
“It was a one-sided fight. He boxed beautifully,” said Rolly when asked about his thoughts on the Gervonta vs. Ryan Garcia fight.
ROMERO VS. BARROSO CARD
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WBA Super Lightweight World Championship – 12 Rounds
Rolando Romero – 139.4 lbs.
Ismael Barroso – 139.4 lbs.
Referee: Tony Weeks; Judges: Tim Cheatham (Nev.), David Sutherland (Okla.), Steve Weisfeld (N.J.)
Super Lightweight Bout – 10 Rounds
Rances Barthelemy – 142.6 lbs.
Omar Juarez – 142.2 lbs.
Note: Contracted weight is 143 pounds
Referee: Thomas Taylor; Judges: Max DeLuca (N.Y.), Patricia Morse Jarman (Nev.), Dave Moretti (Nev.)
WBA Super Lightweight World Title Eliminator – 12 Rounds
Batyr Akhmedov – 138.8 lbs.
Kenneth Sims Jr. – 139.2 lbs.
Referee: Harvey Dock; Judges: Tim Cheatham (Nev.), Chris Migliore (Nev.), Steve Weisfeld (N.J.)
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