Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero is excited at the possibility of defending his WBA light welterweight title against Ryan Garcia in March or April 2024. Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) predicts the fight will be “one of the biggest” pay-per-view events of the year, thanks to his salesmanship ability.
In an uneven performance, Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) bounced back from his recent knockout loss to Gervonta Davis by stopping little-known lightweight Oscar Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs) in the eighth round at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The fight showed that Ryan is mentally shaky and unprepared for anyone of true top-ten talent. However, Rolly doesn’t count as being a true top-ten-level talent in the real sense because boxing fans view him as a guy who was gifted his WBA 140-lb title in a strange fight last May against 40-year-old Ismael Barroso.
Rolly is a textbook example of a paper champion and one of the worst in recent memory, which is why he’s perfect for Ryan Garcia. They don’t get any worse than Rolly when it comes to paper champions.
“I don’t think he deserves it,” said Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero to Fighthype, claiming that Ryan Garcia doesn’t deserve a title shot against him next. “He does not deserve to share the ring with me.
Is Ryan Garcia a poser?
The name that Ryan failed to mention was IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Matias, who many people view as the #1 fighter in the division.
It would be bold on Ryan’s part if he were to choose Matias, but given the problems that he had against the very average-looking #9 WBO lightweight contender Duarte last night, there’s no chance that Kingry or his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions would mess with the hard-hitting Subriel.
Matias would likely destroy Ryan in two or three rounds, and finish his career in the process. The same goes for Rolly. Matias would make short work of Rolly to the point where not even an incompetent referee could save him from defeat.
If Ryan wanted to shake the image of him being an influencer posing as a fighter, he should take on Matias and show boxing fans that he’s for real.
“It’s not the biggest pay-per-view because it’s a fight that’s been long overdue,” said Rolly. “I’ve been calling him out since April 20th, 2017. It’s a fight that has been long-awaited by me, the boxing media, and the fans. It’s one of those mega-fights,” said Rolly about him and Ryan Garcia.
“You get me, the greatest salesman in the world. Then you get pretty princess [Ryan] over there. It sounds like a good time. I hope so,” said Rolly when told that Ryan wants to fight in March or April 2024. “I’m still dealing with some stuff on my end.
“I haven’t been well, but I think that sounds beautiful. I’m healing,” said Rolly when asked about his health.
Ryan didn’t look that good, but he got the job done by dropping the 27-year-old Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs) with a left hook smash in the eighth, and the referee James Green did the rest by stopping, despite the Mexican fighter getting up in time to beat his count.
Throughout the fight, Ryan looked timid, confused, and scared, especially when Duarte put heat on him in the sixth & seventh rounds. Kingry looked like he was having flashbacks from his clash against Tank Davis, as he was wilting similarly.
Rolly predicts huge interest for Ryan Garcia fight
“I think a lot of people miss old Rolly coming in there. I have to see if that fight gets made. I don’t want to say too much because maybe I say two or three words, and maybe he [Ryan Garcia] gets depression and retires for a year, or we don’t know what’s really there.
“Maybe he’s speaking out of his a**. Maybe it’s some bull s***. We don’t know. But I know if the fight does get signed, it’s going to be one of the biggest fights this year [correction: 2024],” said Rolly.
It sounds like fantasy-type stuff from Rolly, who isn’t the sharpest tool in the toolshed, talking about his vision of a fight between him and Ryan Garcia being “the biggest fight.” It certainly won’t be, and the reasons are obvious.
Why Rolly vs. Ryan Garcia won’t be a huge PPV fight:
- The manner that Rolly captured his WBA 140-lb title: Premature stoppage by referee Tony Weeks in a fight Rolly was losing against 40-year-old Ismael Barroso.
- Rolly’s inactivity since ‘win’ over Barroso
- Ryan Garcia failing to redeem himself after loss: Beating the obscure fringe bottom-level lightweight contender Oscar Duarte did nothing for Ryan show that he’s improved since quitting on a knew against Gervonta Davis.
- Poor performance by Ryan against Duarte.
Ryan told the media last night he wants the fight with Rolly next, and he feels it’ll be a good match-up that he can use as a springboard to take on the winner of the December 9th contest between Devin Haney and WBC light welterweight champion.
“Derrick James made Ryan ten times worse”
“He’s over here thinking he’s Floyd Mayweather or something,” said Rolly about how Ryan Garcia adopted the Philly shell for his fight with Oscar Duartes last Saturday night. “Derrick James taught him some weird s***.”
Yeah, Ryan Garcia did look a lot worse in his fight with Oscar Duarte under the helm of new coach Derrick James than he did with his previous coach, Joe Goosen, in a loss to Gervonta Davis.
That’s not surprising because Derrick is mostly known for his two fighters, Jermell Charlo and Errol Spence Jr, neither of which are great talents. Those are guys that would do well with any coach and would arguably have been been much better fighters if they were with someone like Goosen.
“You know how these trainers get ‘Trainer of the Year,’ and then they’re the worst trainer for the next three years,” said Rolly, making it clear that he’s not impressed with Ryan Garcia’s coach, Derrick James. “He has a pretty bad track record.
Should Ryan dump Derrick James?
“He [Derrick James] made Ryan ten times worse. He f*** up [Errol] Spence’s career. Anthony Joshua, I don’t know what happened to him. Frank Martin ain’t looking too good. So, yeah, maybe it’s time for him [Ryan] to go back to Joe Goosen or something?”
If Ryan had any sense, he would dump Derrick, get back with Goosen, and start listening for a change instead of doing whatever he wants inside the ring, like a close-minded know-it-all. Goosen hinted about how he had to approach training Ryan, and it didn’t sound like he had someone that was open to taking instruction.
“He’s over here doing some shoulder roll s***, knocked out, boom. Goodnight. Maybe in twenty-five seconds,” said Rolly on how a fight between him and Ryan Garcia would play out.
“I don’t want to be at 140 anymore. I want to be at 147. There are a lot of big names at 147. I’m just playing around. That’s a big fight for boxing,” said Rolly about him and Ryan.
It’s a bad idea for Rolly to be playing around by saying he’s not interested in staying at 140, because this could lead to him being stripped of his WBA title for failing to defend against his mandatory challenger Ohara Davies, which has already been ordered.
“Let’s put this in perspective. I got Barroso on two weeks’ notice. I didn’t fight for a whole year. I couldn’t even find sparring partners in time for Barroso,” said Rolly.
It’s useless for Rolly Romero to be trying to make excuses for his performance against Ismael Barroso because no one is going to buy his pitiful attempts at damage control, especially now.
It’s literally too late. If Rolly wanted to make excuses, the time to do that would have been immediately after the fight rather than seven months later. Being this slow with the excuses just confirms that Rolly isn’t the brightest crayon in the box.
“On top of that, this dude was a tremendous puncher. He punched hard. I wasn’t going to take no damn risks. I took my time,” said Rolly.
