Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (15-2, 13 KOs) discovered why it’s not a good idea to run his mouth with his getting destroyed by Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) in an eighth-round technical knockout last Saturday night on PBC on Prime at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The fight was more like target practice for Pitbull Cruz, who was tagging Rolly with huge shots, and he looked helpless.
The highlights of Romero, 29, getting beaten up by Cruz were brutal to watch as he was getting worked. Interestingly, one judge had Rolly up 66-65 at the stoppage at 0:56 of the eighth round.
It’s impossible to fathom what that judge was thinking by scoring the contest for Rolly, because been penalized a point in the fifth round, and was close to being knocked out in rounds one and seven. This writer couldn’t identify any rounds where Rolly fought well enough to win it.
Expert Opinions on Romero’s Performance
“I think he needs to change his style. Every fighter knows what Rolly brings to the table when he fights,” said Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to Fighthype about what Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero needs to change in his game after his loss to Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz last Saturday night.
“He needs to change something. Why? Somebody wins, somebody loses. He needs to come back,” said Chavez Jr. when asked if Rolly should retire.
“It seemed like Rolly didn’t have a game plan at all. He came out trying to be brave a little bit in the first round. After he got caught by Cruz, he just started dancing and started moving, but not effective movement. It was just movement not to get hit,” said Jeff Mayweather on his YouTube channel.
“He wasn’t moving to counteract anything. He was just moving just to be moving. He took one or two chances, but not many. He probably underestimated Pitbull and thought that just because he was bigger that he would probably dominate him.
“I’m going to be honest. That’s what I thought. That didn’t happen. He wasn’t committing. Rolly didn’t take many chances at all. If you’re not going to take a chance, chances are you’re not going to win,” said Jeff.
What’s Next for Rolly?
It’s not too late for the 29-year-old Rolly to change his fighting style, but it’s going to require a lot of coaching to improve his game. He’s still too wild and has no defense.
His chin isn’t good enough for the way he fights, and he’ll continue to have problems unless he fights more under control. A new trainer would be good, but he recently made a switch and it didn’t help.
