By Dan Ambrose: Recently crowned WBA light welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero got some bad news today in the form of the World Boxing Association ordering a purse bid for him and his mandatory challenger Ohara Davies for July 24th, in Panama City, Panama.
It’s going to be interesting to see if PBC can help Rolly swerve his mandatory Davies because this is a fight that he could lose without another deeply disturbing stoppage like the one we saw in his last contest.
The WBA’s decision to order a purse bid for a fight against Davies (25-2, 18 KOs) is not what Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) wanted to hear, as he’s been hoping to cash in on his controversial victory over Ismael Barroso by fighting Ryan Garcia next on Showtime PPV.
It’s unclear if Ryan is still interested in fighting Rolly, as he’s gone quiet about wanting to fight him afteer initially talking about wanting to face him for his WBA belt.
With the way Ryan frequently changes his mind about the guys he wants to fight, he likely lost interest in fighting Rolly when he saw someone else that he felt would be a bigger payday or give him more attention.
Ryan has got to know that the backlash he’d receive from the boxing world for fighting Rolly would be tremendous, and he wouldn’t receive credit for a win because Rolando was seen as an illegitimate champ.
Rolly wants to get the kind of mega-money payday he received in his fight with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in May last year. But he can’t do that if he’s forced to fight Ohara Davies unless PBC can give the British fighter a step aside to get him out of the way. If Ryan defeats Rolly, he’ll probably ignore Davies and vacate.
The WBA threw Rolly a bone he didn’t deserve by choosing him to fight for their vacant 140-lb title after Tank knocked him out in his previous fight. In effect, Rolly was rewarded for failing, which angered a lot of fans.
The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has called for a Purse bid to grant the promotional rights of super lightweight world title fight between champion Rolando Romero and challenger Ohara Davies on July 24, in Panama City, Panama #RomeroDavies
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) July 11, 2023
Rolly’s win over Barroso was the second controversial one in his last five fights since 2020. In 2020, Rolly defeated Jackson Marinez by a twelve-round unanimous decision in a fight that many boxing fans saw as a robbery.
Some boxing fans believe that Floyd Mayweather Jr has created Rrolly, and with his backing, he’s been given opportunities that he didn’t deserve and won a belt that he shouldn’t have.