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The road ahead for Rolly Romero - The many options that could be next for the man who defeated Ryan Garcia
That was the evening, over the weekend, when he went into the ring with a 16-2 (13) record and left it not with the replacement of that ‘2’ with a ‘3’, but a ‘17’ where the ‘16’ had once been.
It is hard to understate how much the fates were thought to be against Romero. Garcia was thought widely to be so far ahead in physical ability and skill and possessing what is thought to be the best left hook in the business that the matter of his opponent was largely a routine one, a space on the other side of the ring that simply needed to be filled.
Making such an argument was not difficult. Arguably, Romero’s most-notable win came against Swedish fighter Muhammad Anthony Yigit nearly four years ago in San Antonio. He had then been stopped by Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz, two losses that sandwiched an uninspiring, drawn-out technical knockout over Ismael Barroso. That fight was two years ago and Romero’s vanquisher from there has seemingly let his career wither since, stopping Ohara Davies in two rounds but venturing to Tokyo to be stopped in nine by Andy Hiraoka.
Romero’s last fight before Saturday had been a unanimous-decision win against Manuel Jaimes in Las Vegas last September. Jaimes left that fight, went into a February match against Abdullah Mason in New York, and promptly lost that in four.
Much will have been made that Garcia was rising through the weight divisions, going into the fight at 146½ pounds after a career largely spent fighting at ten pounds below. But Garcia’s weight gain had been gradual, going from 135½ against Gervonta Davis to 143 against Oscar Duarte Jurado, then 143¼ against Devin Haney. Between Haney and going into the ring against Romero, Garcia had gained only 3½lbs.
Romero had started around the same weight, too, but his gains had been more dramatic – from around 135lbs against Yigit and Davis, he had gone to 139½ against Barroso and Cruz, ventured north a pound to meet Jaimes, before coming in six pounds heavier than he had ever been to face Garcia.
All of this - this circling around the middle ranks of the division’s elite, the losses by stoppage, the rise in weight, the sense that a destiny had already been fulfilled - made Romero the perfect opponent on paper as a showcase for Garcia.
Except Romero won. And that was not supposed to happen, because Garcia was the champion with the big name and the star power and that left hook. But this is boxing and the only thing that is more predictable than predictability is that the unpredictable will happen occasionally.
The most-dramatic moment in the bout was in the second round when Romero threw one hook, then another, and sent Garcia to the canvas. Garcia was moving backwards and seemed off-balance, and it was a legitimate knockdown but more one that was embarrassing, a reminder of how you got outplayed rather than outpunched.
There was little that Garcia did to win for the rest of the fight. Romero slowed everything down so much that there was seemingly no chance that it could ever be slower. And Garcia, who seemed shocked that someone had come in and not lost immediately, had little to do other than jab ineffectively at his man.
Even Jim Lampley, going into the twelfth and final round, said that there was no way for Romero to lose, with a probable 107-102 lead. Even switching a debatable round over, said Lampley, still put Romero three points ahead against a Garcia who seemed happy to be going to the end.
It was a clear verdict when it came: 115-112 twice, with a 118-109 scorecard in partnership.
There was no controversy afterwards, although there were tears. Footage of a dejected and crying Garcia, sitting in a car, made its way around social media over the weekend. Rebuilding is always hard, and more so when every errant thought from inside your head has made its way out onto the same social media.
Romero’s path seems bright if unclear. On BoxRec, he is ranked twelfth amongst the welterweight division. Any of the top three – Jaron Ennis; Devin Haney, who appeared on the same card ; and Brian Norman Jr – would find him to be an acceptable opponent. Why not fight the man who just took the air out of one of the sport’s most-notable stars?
There is a good chance that Romero could take his show on the road, too. The people behind the UK’s Lewis Crocker, 21-0, might pay good money for Romero to go to Belfast.
Teofimo Lopez, who lurks a weight division below and who also won on Saturday, might make Romero an offer. Then there is Dalton Smith, Arnold Barboza Jr, and Jack Catterall, all of whom might try to claim Romero’s scalp.
The road ahead, then, seems like a good one for Romero. Big-money fights beckon, in the US or the UK or Saudi Arabia. Maybe even in Japan.
Few gave Romero a chance when he took to the ring in Times Square on Saturday. They thought Garcia was too big, too fast, too strong. They though that the left hook would be the decider and the finisher. The assumption, though, was that it would have been Garcia’s left hook. The second round rewrote a lot of that.
There will be offers for Romero, and possibly huge ones. Two fighters met on Saturday night in New York, with two clear fates seemingly at the end of their appointment: Garcia to bigger fights and stardom, Romero proven to be down a level from that.
But those fates faded. And while Garcia’s has become murky from here, it is arguably Romero’s that is more open and full of light, even if the air around it is not yet clear enough for anyone to see what is there.
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