Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe says his fighter, WBA light welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, and his trainer have been working on a game plan to take advantage of Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz’s aggressive style for their clash this Saturday night on Prime PPV.
The two fighters meet in the co-feature on the Tim Tszyu vs. Sebastian Fundora card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. For many boxing fans, Rolly vs. Cruz is now the main event, as Americans are not interested in watching Tszyu fight replacement opponent Fundora, who is coming off a vicious seventh-round knockout loss.
Tszyu-Fundora is seen as a mismatch, and it should have been pushed down to the chief support with Rolly vs. Cruz moved to the headliner. It’s another example of PBC making a mistake in putting this card together.
So About that Plan…
Ellerbe seems confident that what Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) has been working on will be effective against Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs), who has been picked out from the 135-lb division to fight for the title rather than one of the contenders in the WBA’s top 15 at 140.
In Rolly’s last fight against Ismael Barroso, he moved a lot and fought sporadically. The 40-year-old Barroso dominated him until referee Tony Weeks halted the fight in the ninth round after five missed shots.
It was one of the worst stoppages in the history of the sport. When replays of the final sequence were shown, the crowd booed loudly, seeing for themselves that Rolly had landed nothing and that Weeks had blown it.
If Rolly fights like that against Pitbull Cruz, that game plan will be useless without another miracle stoppage like last time.
Ellerbe’s Sales Pitch
“Pitbull’s style, he fights one way. He’s just very aggressive, very aggressive, and Rolly and his trainer have been working on ways to counter that kind of stuff, and he’s not just going to continue to run up in there on Rolly,” said promoter Leonard Ellerbe to the Fight Hub TV YouTube channel about Saturday’s fight between WBA light welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.
“I see the fight playing out as an all-action fight from the opening bell. Neither guy is going to be sit back and bouncing around and fighting off the back foot. It’s like Rolly will have some things in his arsenal to be able to counter that.”
