Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (15-1, 13 KOs) was given an extremely disturbing ninth round knockout win over Ismael Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs) in a fight for the vacant WBA light welterweight title on Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Rolly pushed the 40-year-old Venezuelan native Barroso to the canvas in round nine, and the referee, Tony Weeks blew the call, saying it was a knockdown. In the next strange move by the referee Weeks, he jumped in between the two fighters and halted the contest, giving Rolly credit for a ninth round knockout.
There are no words to describe how truly bizarre this move was by Weeks. The time of the stoppage was at 2:41 of round nine. The Mayweather-promoted Rolly Romero is now the WBA 140-lb champion,m and it’s predictable that there’s going to be a big push for a rematch with Gervonta Davis.
In round three, Barroso dropped Rolly to the canvas afteer catching him with a counter shot. After that round, Rolly was hurt continuously in each round up until the strange stoppage in the ninth.
Undercard results:
Light welterweight Kenneth Sims Jr (20-2-1, 7 KOs) fought well down the stretch to beat Batyr Akhmedov (9-3, 8 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision.
Akhmedov fought well through most of the fight but then faded during the championship rounds, allowing Sims Jr to come on and pull out the victory.
The judges scored it 115-113, 116-112 for Sims Jr, and 114-114.
Bantamweight Michael Angeletti (8-0, 7 KOs) defeated Michell Banquez (20-4, 14 KOs) by an eighth round knockout. Angeletti dropped Banquez with a nice right hand to the head. Angeletti then finished Banquez with a salvo of punches, resulting in the referee stepping in to stop the bout.
Starling Castillo (18-1-1, 13 KOs) beat Esteuri Suero (12-1, 9 KOs) by a narrow ten round unanimous decision. The judges scores were 95-92, 95-92, and 94-93.
Preview: Rolly wants Tank next if victorious tonight
“It ain’t the first time, and it ain’t the last time. I don’t believe I’m fighting that person until the bell rings,” said Rolly Romero to Sportings News on his opponent for tonight’s fight being switched from Alberto Puello to Ismael Barroso.
“Hey man, I got unfinished business,” said Rolly when asked if he’ll call out Gervonta Davis if he’s victorious tonight against Barroso.
“I think everybody would want to see this again and go over it again. Just even the lead-up and everything, it was a hysterical lead-up. I did. I was promoter of the year. I had a good time, and I was the promoter of the year.
“I feel like like that’s something big that needs to happen again. No prediction. Just sit down and watch. It’s going to be a fun one,” said Rolly when asked for a prediction for his fight tonight against Barroso.
“I don’t want to give you guys my insight and my game plan for this one. You got to tune in. Y’all are going to tune in anyways,” Rolando said.
Move up to 140 long overdue
“Even at the weigh-in, I’ve had people pull out of fights,” said Rolly. “They all want to get in the ring until they look me in the eye, and it’s like, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ I’ve been trying to move up for two and a half years. I know I wasn’t a 135-pounder. When you get big, you get big.
“My body grew so much that I couldn’t make 135. I really shouldn’t have been at 135 anymore. I was just too big. That’s why when I fought Tank, I was saying, ‘I want Gervonta at 140,’ because I knew I couldn’t [make 135 comfortably].
“Then the fight got delayed. It was a lot of stuff going on in that whole situation. I would have been way more stronger, more explosive, more durable,” said Rolly when asked how much of a difference it would have been had he fought Tank Davis at 140 instead of 135.
“People don’t know this, but when you cut that kind of weight because I lost 17 pounds in a day. When you lose that kind of weight, your body doesn’t absorb the water.
“People that are at their weight class, they’re a lot more durable than fighters that cut down. That’s why when you look late in their careers, the fighters that stay closer to their weight are a lot more durable.
“Your body doesn’t absorb the water properly. That’s a big one. In the modern weight cut, people are killing themselves to make weight. I felt so bad that I literally lost my hair. I felt horrible,” said Rolly when asked how he felt physically on the night that he fought Gervonta Davis.
“I was in the back room, and Showtime has their lights on you. I was warming up, and I felt like I was in a sauna. I’m like, ‘Why in the hell is it so hot in here? Y’all turned on the heater. Nah, y’all turned on the heater.’
“I was like, ‘Y’all got to turn off some of those lights.’ Dude, I put my hand up where the vent is at, and the AC was on. My body started letting go of water for no reason. It was weird as hell.
“Then, in the third round, my entire left arm went numb. All kinds of weird things were happening. I threw a punch, and my entire left arm went numb. These entire three fingers went numb until a month after the fight.
“I was the trippiest thing ever. None of these things ever happened to me. It was like I said. I shouldn’t have been at 135 anymore and knew I shouldn’t have been there anymore. But the opportunity, I want to be a champion.
“Me, I’ve been calling this dude out for. I don’t know how long I’ve been calling this guy out. I went to become champ. I dared to be great. I’m like everybody else. I stood up, and I wanted to fight.
“At first, I thought, ‘It’s a bad move, it’s a bad move,'” said Rolly when asked about his thoughts on Ryan Garcia agreeing to fight Tank Davis with a rehydration clause in place. “But when it came to the actual weigh-ins, I realized that Ryan isn’t as big as me.
“Yeah, he’s bigger than Tank, but he’s not too much bigger than Tank as far as mass-wise. I don’t think the dehydration affected Ryan that much because if it did, that first punch would have had Ryan out,” said Rolly.
Rolando “Rolly” Romero will be coming off a year-long layoff tonight when he fights Ismael Barroso for the vacant WBA light welterweight title on Showtime in a twelve-round headliner. The action on the Showtime card starts at 9 pm ET from Las Vegas.