Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero made it clear on Thursday that if he dethrones WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on May 28th, he’ll have no interest in fighting Devin Haney, George Kambosos Jr., or Vasyl Lomachenko.
Tank Davis will be defending against Rolly on Showtime PPV next month on May 28th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Rolly makes it clear that he’ll only focus on a small handful of fighters once he captures the WBA title from Tank, and Lomachenko, Kambosos, and Haney don’t meet his criteria.
With the way Rolly is ruling out most of the top guys at 135 as future opponents, it might be for the good of the sport that he NOT get his hands on the WBA 135-lb title that Tank currently holds.
It’s just as well that Rolly (14-0, 12 KOs) is ruling those fighters out because the chances of Mayweather Promotions setting up a fight against any of them are extremely remote.
The former three-division world champion Tank (26-0, 24 KOs) hasn’t fought any of those guys in all the years he’s been with Mayweather Promotions, so it makes sense for Rolly to be dismissing the idea of facing any of them.
Rolly rates Tank as #1 at 135
“It’s not that I don’t respect him as a fighter. It’s just that it’s going to be the easiest fight of my career,” said Rolly to Fight Hub TV about his May 28th match against Gervonta Davis.
“I think Tank is an amazing fighter, but it’s going to say a lot about my legacy once I knock him out,” said Rolly. “He gets punched a lot, so I don’t have to put myself in position. He’s going to run right into it.
“I’ve always been underrated. I don’t have one [a game plan] and don’t need one. But as far as ring IQ, you guys are going to see on May 28th. He’s going to run into something and I’m going to knock him out really quick.
“He’s in my weight class and I want to fight him and he dipped on sparring twice. We were over at the Spence – Mikey fight and he tried to fight me over there and then he pussed out. So, yeah, there’s a lot. I want to f*** him up,” said Rolly when asked why there’s so much bad blood between him and Gervonta.
“Yes, Gervonta is the best fighter at 135 pounds, and if he was back down at 130, he’d demolish 130,” said Rolly.
You can’t say that Tank Davis is the #1 fighter in the lightweight division, given that he’s not fought the best guys. His promoters have been matching Gervonta against a lot of old guys and lesser opposition, which has helped him stay unbeaten.
Tank’s last fight against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz showed that he clearly is not the #1 fighter in the division.
Lomachenko would have dominated Cruz, and easily stopped him. Kambosos and Haney would have beaten him as well. If you look at how Tank fought against Pitbull, Leo Santa Cruz and Mario Barrios, you can say that he’s not even #3 at 135.
Tim Compton’s top five at 135
1. Vasyl Lomachenko
2. Devin Haney
3. George Kambosos Jr.
4. Gervonta Davis
5. Rolly Romero
“No, he was going to get knocked out prior to his contract being up [with Mayweather Promotions], and now he’s going to get knocked out after. It doesn’t make a difference,” said Rolly.
Rolando predicting an early stoppage
“I’m already a star otherwise I wouldn’t be in this position right now,” said Rolly. “I don’t know too many people with 14 fights getting a PPV opportunity this quickly in their career, and I might be one of the few that isn’t a damn YouTuber.
“His style is going to make it really easy and he’s going to run into something. It’s going to go a round or so. I’m not able to bet on myself, that’s what they say, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have other people bet on me.
“It’s great just being on Showtime on a pay-per-view platform is amazing. I’m really grateful to be here. His head is this f*** big, you can’t miss. I’m the best fighter at 135 and there are no questions about that.
“I just feel more focused. I really enjoyed this camp. Tank can’t box backwards really well, and with Pitbull Cruz, he couldn’t box backwards really well either,” said Rolly when asked if there’s something in this camp that he’s implementing into his game.
“When you get an opportunity and you get it taken from you for no reason at all. Nobody knows really if I was going to get it back. Nobody really knew. Even if I was the mandatory and stuff, Tank could have got into a car accident, broken arm or something.
“For me to get that opportunity a second time, it made me more focused on it. To me, I felt like it was destined anyways. There are other people that went through what I did and they got laid off for years.
“I’m just grateful that I got the opportunity again and everything went perfect. There are no potential opportunities after this fight. This is the opportunity, this is the fight.
Rolly rules out top 135-pounders
“Who the hell am I going to fight? Devin Haney? He’s a f*** bum,” said Rolly. “Kambosos, I think he’s another f**** bum. Who else is there to fight? I go after big-name fighters that are pay-per-view stars.
“If I can’t get another pay-per-view star at 135, I’ll get him at 147 or 154. I’ll move up whatever. I look like I’m a 160-pounder right now. I ook like a 160 pounder. I can go to any weight class, I’ve got the body frame to do it.
“The only person that isn’t a pay-per-view star that isn’t me, Tank and Ryan. Those are the only three that are selling fights. Everybody else, it’s a waste of time,” said Rolly when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Vasyl Lomachenko.
“The only way you become a big legend is if you beat people that are big that are stars,” said Rolly.
