Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero’s career picture looks bleak following his eighth-round TKO loss to Isaac ‘Pitbull Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The dethroned now former WBA light welterweight champion Rolly (15-2, 13 KOs) can forget about a Pitbull rematch or a title fight against any other belt-holders at 140. That’s not happening.
More Than Just a Loss
It wasn’t just the defeat that has wrecked Rolly’s career outlook. It’s the way that he fought that puts him in the class of the ‘undesirables’ at light welterweight. It was the cowardly way that Rolly fought that put him in the undesirable class. You hate to say it, but Rolly’s career is in a downward spiral, heading nowhere after this humiliating defeat.
Rolly’s holding, running, and illegal stiff-arming made him look worse in defeat than if he’d fought bravely and gone out on his shield like a warrior.
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe will need to be creative in how he brings Rolly back from this loss because if he thinks they’re going to get any of the big names to show interest in him, he’s deluded.
He should match Rolly with 40-year-old Ismael Barroso next to clear up the controversy of their fight last year. The contest ended with referee Tony Weeks stopping it out of the blue following a flurry of punches that hit nothing but air.
It was one of the worst stoppages in the sport’s history, but it enabled Rolly to be crowned the WBA 140-lb champion.
A Tarnished Image
Rolando was never competitive from the jump against Pitbull Cruz last night, and was lucky not to be knocked out in the first round after getting staggered by a left hand to the head. From that point on, Rolly was on his bike, moving, holding and using his left hand to illegally straight-arm Pitbull.
In the last 20 seconds of the seventh round, Cruz tore into Rolly, hurting him with a big shot and flurrying with an avalanche of punches. In between rounds, the ringside doctor had a conference with Rolly, 29, to see if he was ok and physically able to continue fighting.
In the eighth round, the referee stopped the action to have Cruz’s right glove retapped, which gave the hurt Rolly a brief reprieve from the punishment he was taking. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough of a break for him to regain his senses.
As soon as the action restarted, Pitbull Cruz calmly approached Rolly and lit him up with huge shots, causing him to wobble and retreat to the ropes. Cruz tore into Rolly, finishing him off with a storm of shots that forced the referee to halt the fight.
