Rolando Romero is one of those loudmouthed boxers that most fans want to see getting smashed.
After being blown away by Gervonta Davis in May 2022 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the 28 year old took a year's respite and returned against Ismael Barroso winning a controversial round 9 stoppage.
The Ismael Barroso bout featured such an awkward and bizarre ending that, it’s better not discussed as referee Tony took strong backlash on the aftermath.
Then came Romero- Cruz; " Pitbull" swallowed all the vitriol and accordingly put a sound beating on the maverick Romero who sounded rather sober post-fight: humbled by, not in defeat.
So, the first in many little steps back came Saturday night for “Rolly,” when he took on Manuel Jaimes in a 10-round junior welterweight bout opening the Canelo Alvarez-Edgar Berlanga PBC on Prime pay-per-view card before a sellout crowd of 20,312 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Romero came out with a fairly dominant 10-round, unanimous junior welterweight decision over Jaimes, winning by agreed scores of 99-91 across the board from judges Tim Cheatham, Patricia Morse Jarman and Steve Weisfeld.
“I needed a tough 10-round fight against someone hungry and that’s what I got tonight,” Romero said. “I was doing a lot of stuff tonight that I should have done in my earlier fights.
“Jaimes was coming forward a lot, but I was controlling the pace. The fight was going how I wanted it to. In the later rounds I started coming forward more and landing more body shots.
“Hopefully I’m fighting for a title next. I have my eye on any of the champions.”
Neither fighter seemed willing to commit early. In fact, Romero landed a mere three punches in the first round, and Jaimes landed two. Of the 10 rounds, Jaimes landed double figure punches in just two, the eighth and ninth rounds. Romero did not do much better, although he opened up as the course of the fight unfolded, landing double figures in the last six rounds.
During the course of the fight build-up, Romero (16-2, 13 knockouts) was uncharacteristically reserved. He was very restrained during the fight, too, staying within a boxing framework of jabbing and staying in a defensive shell, allowing Jaimes to come forward.
Romero would land a two-, three-punch combination and keep it safe, not willing to take any chances.
Jaimes (16-2-1, 11 KOs) tried to lure Romero into his kind of fight, though to no avail.
CompuBox stats revealed Romero landed 112 (40 body)/403 (27.8%), while Jaimes 89 (14)/361 (24.7%) got points for trying, even though it the talent disparity was quite evident.
Jaimes actually believed he did better than what the judges saw.
“The judges saw what they saw,” he said. “I’d have to watch the tape to be able to score it myself. I could have been more active, that would have helped me land more. It was big to be in this position, it’s the kind of fight I always wanted to be in. I’m going to get back to work and figure out what’s next.”
It’s unlikely Romero would consider avenging his two defeats- they were unquestionable and brutal.
But he's surely going to be in some good fights soon; he's a highly favoured dude, with much love from the people that matter.
By Samuel Opoku Amoah.
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