Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero was in awe of his conquered opponent Ismael Barroso’s power after defeating him by a premature ninth-round stoppage on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
After the contest ended, courtesy of a lightning-fast wave-off by referee Tony Weeks in the ninth, the victorious Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) smothered the 40-year-old Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KO) with compliments, raving about his power, saying he hits harder than Gervonta Davis.
Rolly said that every time the Venezuelan Barroso hit him, it hurt. It was to the point where Rolly didn’t want to throw punches because he knew h was going to get hit after throwing them.
Barroso knocked Rolly down in the third and had him hurt in each of the rounds from the fourth until the premature textbook stoppage by referee Weeks. That stoppage will go down in the history books as one of the all-time worst, and Rolly was the lucky beneficiary.
“He said he’s been boxing since he was 11. That means he’s been boxing for 29 years. I’ve been boxing for 10 years,” said Rolly Romero to Fight Hub TV after his win over Ismael Barroso.
“He’s boxed. I don’t know how many rounds. He’s been ranked #1 forever. He’s a world-level fighter and a world-level puncher. He has 22 knockouts,” Rolly continued about Barroso.
“You don’t get that by not punching hard. He’s one of those dangerous fighters that you don’t want to take a risk with. You just want to box, box, and catch him when you do.
“The people in boxing know who he is. Like I said, he’s been in the sport a long time, and people know who he is Just the casuals don’t know who he is.
“Him. He punches way harder,” said Rolly when asked if Barroso hits harder than Tank Davis. “Every punch felt like a rock. Every punch felt like a rock, I’m telling you.
“Just be patient. I systematically broke him down, landing a jab hard. I hurt him a bit and hurt him a bit more. When I finally did get him, I got him.
“I was like, ‘F**k, this mother f***ker got me,'” Rolly said about Barroso knocking him down in round three. “The old me would have gone, ‘I’m ok. I’m going to beat the s**t out of his a** now.
“He’s a fighter where you have a fight or flight response. When he’s in danger, he’s like, ‘Go.’ Those fighters are dangerous. He’s sneaky. I told y’all it wasn’t going to be an easy fight.
“The only fight I care about right now is Ryan Garcia, and the winner between me and Ryan gets Gervonta Davis. We’re going to do all this on Showtime pay-per-view. If it’s not Ryan, it’s Tank. At the end of it, I got the belt. I make the shots,” said Rolly.
