By Allan Fox: Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero is enjoying trolling the legion of angry fans about his getting another world title shot this Saturday night on May 13th, against Ismael Barroso in a battle for the vacant WBA 140-lb title after losing in his previous contest against lightweight champion Gervonta Davis last year.
Rolly’s opponent, 40-year-old Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs), is a massive underdog, but you can’t count him out. Barroso can punch, and he’s got the kind of power that could prove to be kryptonite against the much younger Rolly.
Rolly is fighting Barroso because Alberto Puello was given the WBA ‘champion in recess’ tag because of his failed drug test. Puello will meet with the World Boxing Association on May 17th at his hearing for his case to be decided.
According to Rolly, he’s getting this opportunity to fight for the vacant WBA light welterweight title because have “special privileges,” which he’s not lying about. Rolly isn’t getting this shot because he earned it by beating all the top contenders at 140.
He hasn’t even fought in the light welterweight division as of yet. This Saturday night will be Rolly’s debut at 140, so he’s getting a shot gifted to him based on his popularity and the fact that he’s well-connected by having a powerful promotional company in Mayweather Promotions backing him.
The company’s owner Floyd Mayweather Jr is fabulously wealthy, with a net worth estimated at $450-560 million. When you’ve got an owner with that kind of money, it’s not surprising that fighters like Rolly Romero are getting world title shots back-to-back without even having fought in the division he’s fighting for a world title in.
“I’m Rolly; I get special Rolly privileges,” Rolly told ESPN about his title shot. “Sorry that I’m getting a title shot, but I’m also one of the most entertaining boxers in the sport. You don’t want to give me title shots, don’t watch my fights.”
Some boxing fans view the 27-year-old Rolly (14-1, 12 KOs) as a textbook example of the sport malfunctioning, allowing a fighter that just failed in a title shot now getting another gift chance only because of his popularity on social media.
If Rolly loses this fight and is given another world title shot, it’ll be interesting to see the fan’s reaction. In some ways, it’s unfair to Rolly that he’s put in positions to fight for world titles that he doesn’t rate.
Rolly wasn’t really to challenge Gervonta Davis for his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title last year, as he’d fought no one of any talent and had arguably been beaten by Jackson Marinez.
Rolly is being thrown into a world title fight without having fought at 140. Even if Rolly wins, how long will he be able to hold onto the WBA title before he’s soundly beaten?
