By Dan Ambrose: Ryan Garcia wasn’t impressed with what he saw from Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero’s victory over Ismael Barroso in their fight for the vacant WBA light welterweight title last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Like many, Ryan was shocked by Rolly’s premature ninth round stoppage victory over Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs), calling it “dirty” with what referee Tony Weeks did in needlessly stepping in to halt the contest.
Ryan said the stoppage was “way too early,” which obviously it was, and who knows what was going through the mind of the referee Weeks when he made that move.
For Rolly, it’s not a good thing that Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) isn’t pleased with his title victory because he spent a better part of his post-fight press conference calling him out, believing that he’ll want to fight him now that he’s captured the WBA 140-lb title.
It’s unlikely that Ryan Garcia will want any part of fighting Rolly, with his tainted victory over Barroso. If Ryan were to fight Rolly, it would reflect badly on him, almost putting him in the same class as the arguably illegitimate WBA champion.
What Rolly should do is give Barroso a rematch so he can restore his credibility with the fans and show them that he’s capable of beating the 40-year-old without help from the referee. This was Rolly’s second controversial win in the last three years, as in 2020, he defeated Jackson Marinez by a highly questionable 12 round unanimous decision.
WOW
THAT WAS DIRTY
WAY TO EARLY #RomeroVsBarroso
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) May 14, 2023
“I don’t think anybody thought that was an appropriate stoppage. Barroso was ahead on the scorecards,” said Al Bernstein to Fighthype, reacting to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero’s controversial ninth-round knockout win over Ismael Barroso last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“The knockdown, although Barroso was hurt before that first knockdown, he was pushed down. It’s hard to fathom the stoppage. Honestly, it just is. I don’t think anybody can say otherwise. It was just hard to fathom.
“First, we have to process that he [Rolly Romero] has a title based on what transpired here tonight. Obviously, I think it’s quite apparent that Barroso is a different fighter than the guy I saw three years ago [correction: four years ago] that I saw against [Yves] Ulysse.
“That Barroso would have beaten Rolly Romero tonight. That Barroso from three years ago at age 38.
“I don’t know what to say about Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero. Let’s put it this way. Right at the moment, a lot of it is questionable,” said Bernstein when asked if Rolly is one of the weakest 140-lb champions in recent years.
“We saw two really good 140-pounders in the first fight tonight. Really good fighters fight at a super talented championship level. I’ll leave it to people for them to think what they would do compared to what we saw in the main event,” Al said about the Kenneth Sims Jr vs. Batyr Akhmedov contest.
“I’m not one to denigrate. I’m not one to go off, but those are facts,” said Bernstein.
