Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) made it look easy on Saturday night, beating the stuffing out of Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (15-2, 13 KOs) to stop him in the eighth round to capture his WBA light welterweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The defeat by Rolly ends his short title reign in his first defense of his belt that he’d picked up in controversial fashion last year.
The referee waved it off in the eighth round due to Rolando getting battered by Cruz, who was unloading on the tired champion with punches. At the time of the stoppage, Pitbull Cruz was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards by the scores: 69-63 and 68-64. The third judge surprisingly had Rolly up 66-65.
Movement vs. Pressure
Rolly did a fairly good job of limiting the shots that Cruz landed by moving, holding, and using a straight arm through the first six rounds.
The referee penalized Rolly for his clinching in the fifth but didn’t address his stiff arm that was utilized to keep Cruz at bay.
It was obvious that Rolly had worked on these tactics during training camp, and he didn’t have didn’t have any intention of going to war with Pitbull the way he’d said he would. In other words, it was 100% spoiling tactics Rolly, who came to survive to try and squeak out a decision.
Pitbull Breaks Through
Cruz took the wheels away from Rolly in the seventh round by hammering him with body shots that forced him to stand and fight. When Rolly finally stopped moving, he was a sitting duck for Cruz’s shots and pounded during the rounds. The mauling by Pitbull began in the seventh, and by the time the round ended, Rolly looked shredded and defeated.
When Rolly came out for the eighth, he had the look of someone who had been taken too many heavy shots, and was fighting on fumes. The referee mercifully stepped in and stopped the massacre in the eighth to save what was left of the beaten Rolly.
“I’m very happy and humbled to win this title for my family and for Mexico,” said Cruz. “I was prepared for this. I wasn’t here to just fight. I was here to terminate him…I did my talking right here in the ring. And I did this not just for me, but for everybody that is here at T-Mobile Arena. There’s going to be a Mexican champ at 140 pounds for a long time.”
