Twelve months ago, Rolando “Rolly” Romero lost a match he claimed to have won against Gervonta Davis for what he called a lucky punch; something that disconnected him from his senses and made no promise that they would return.
Now, after talking so much about that fight, and the others, Romero, lightweight, is ready to return to the ring and start over. He will fight Venezuela Ismael Barroso on Saturday (May 13) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, knowing the pressure is on, both get back on the winning track and back up everything he says.
Because that’s the problem with a boxer like Romero. While he has done a great job in creating an online personality for himself and vice versa, garnering the attention his achievements probably don’t guarantee, he has also made his mark. is a target: a target for the opponent to knock down and a target for mockery.
This match, in contrast to Davis’s, will be a relatively unimportant one, which could benefit Romero, 14-1 (12). After all, Barroso is now a 40-year-old man who has been there and done it. He’s seen upstarts like Romero pop up before, and he had no reason to join him until the first bell rang. Given his age, he’s clearly past his best, but that doesn’t mean Barroso is slipping or succumbing to lesser opponents lately. In fact, since being beaten by both Isa Chaniev (UD 12) and Botirzhon Akhmedov (KO 9) in 2018, Barroso has won four straight games, three of which won overtime after four innings. However, this form has as much to do with the opposition as any major resurgence on the part of Barroso and moreover, his inactivity over the past 5 years could hurt him as well. age or history of combat fatigue. .
Remember that was in 2015, Barroso went to England and shocked Kevin Mitchell with his wild, aggressive style, stopping the Londoners in five violent and mostly one-sided innings. The following year, Barroso then returned to England, but this time he found himself stopped for seven innings by Anthony Crolla, who, to his credit, weathered the storm early, finding Barroso quickly, and finally put an exclamation point on the performance with a good stop.
Of course, that was a long time ago. Since then, after being unmasked by Crolla, Barroso, 24-3-2 (22) has performed as expected: beating opponents he had to beat and losing against those he was expected to win. lose.
If that pattern continues – and, at 40, there’s no reason to think otherwise – Romero should be able to deal with Barroso fairly easily this Saturday night in Las Vegas. Thirteen years behind his competition at 27, Romero, despite his many mistakes, boasts a freshness and speed that Barroso lacks and perhaps possesses the kind of ambition that Barroso has seen snuff out in the past. Lately year. There’s talent there, too. For example, prior to losing to Davis, Romero racked up decent wins against Anthony Yigit (TKO 7) and Jackson Marinez (UD 12) and showed no shortage of skill in the process.
All he needs to do now is focus more on those skills and less talkative. Because time flies so fast in boxing, as in life, and spending too much time focusing on others rather than yourself ends up being a waste of time. Then on Saturday, as long as he gets through his loss to Davis and focuses back on himself, Romero will have more than enough capacity for an aging Barroso, though perhaps not the strength to prevent him.
On the Vegas, Ukraine supplement card Botirzhon Akhmedov9-2 (8) and was one of three men to defeat Ismael Barroso, against the Americans Kenneth Sims Jnr, 19-2-1(7), over 12 rounds in the ultralightweight division. Another fight in the super light weight between the Cuban old general Rances Barthelemy29-2-1 (15) and prospects Texan Omar Juarez14-1(5).
The third lucky time
In Stockton, California, there are two WBO belts on the line; one at bantamweight and one at middleweight.
In bantamweight, an empty belt will be on the radar of Australia Andrew Moloney And Vincent Astrolabio from the Philippines. Of the two, Moloney is no stranger to world championship action, having lost in two previous titles: the first against Emmanuel Rodriguez in 2018 and the second against Naoya Inoue in 2020. Those were incredibly tough matches on paper and it was no shame that Moloney lost to either man. Here, however, he has a much higher chance of winning a gold medal, as he is certainly aware that Astrolabio, despite his ability and toughness, is not on the same level as Rodriguez and Inoue.
Indeed, Astrolabio spent most of his professional career in his hometown, where he suffered his first loss to John Mark Apolinario in 2017. Astrolabio then had two more losses in the following year, when Yuki Strong Kobayashi stopped him in four games and ZongLi He outplayed him by more than 10. That seemed to end all Astrolabio’s hopes of competing for the world title, however, it was worth it. admired, he persisted and finally turned his fortunes around. Six games on, he’s undefeated in that time and last year even managed to win over the great Guillermo Rigondeaux (42, of course) and Nikolai Potapov in Astrolabio’s US debut.
Returning to that part of the world this Saturday (May 13), he will do so with a lot of motivation and confidence, knowing this might be his first and only chance. to win the world title. However, his way, as a man in Moloney, who not only shares the ring with much better opponents, but is also 32 years old and has four straight wins since losing to Inoue, Probably his best form at the moment.
In middleweight, the WBO belt will start tonight in the hands of Zhanibek Alimkhanuly13-0 (8), with his opponent, steven Butler, 32-3-1 (26), was tasked with trying to take it from him over the course of 12 innings. However, that seems unlikely given both the form and clumsiness of the Kazakh belt holder, who has gone undefeated in 13 professional fights and is a male boxer just six feet tall. Last time, against England’s Denzel Bentley, he was able to effectively showcase his range of skills, winning the match via unanimous decision, and it’s hard to see Butler, from Canada , can do with Alimkhanuly that Bentley cannot.
