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Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero both are considered punchers.
Only two opponents apiece have gone the distance with the unbeaten lightweights during their pro careers. Davis is 26-0, including 24 knockouts, whereas Romero has stopped 12 of his 14 foes inside the distance.
Davis has knocked out a longer list of known opponents, including former 130-pound champions Leo Santa Cruz and Jose Pedraza. Therein lies the faulty foundation underneath Davis’ gaudy record, according to Romero.
Davis’ vocal rival believes that he has feasted on smaller opponents who’ve moved up to weights where Davis was more comfortable (Santa Cruz) or boxers who’ve struggled mightily to make weight (Pedraza). Smart matchmaking, Romero believes, has created an illusion that the powerful southpaw is a bigger puncher than is actually the case.
Romero broke down what he feels is Davis’ overrated power on the newest episode of Brian Custer’s “The Last Stand Podcast,” which premiered Monday night on YouTube.
“Tank, I don’t think he’s as big of a puncher as people think,” Romero told Custer, a host for “Showtime Championship Boxing” broadcasts, while discussing his May 28 fight with Davis. “I think he just bullies a bunch of small dudes and weight-drained opponents, like Pedraza and Barrios, and small dudes, like Santa Cruz, a torn-Achilles Gamboa, that 122-pounder he fought on [Showtime]. You know, so, I don’t think he’s that big of a puncher. I think he’s just explosive and gets these people that stand there in front of him and they’re smaller than him. So, I mean, it’s only obvious that he’s gonna knock them out.”
Davis viciously knocked out Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs) with a left uppercut in the sixth round of their October 2020 fight at Alamodome in San Antonio. He dropped Barrios (26-2, 17 KOs) and Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-4, 18 KOs) three times apiece on his way to respective 11th-round and 12th-round stoppages last June 26 and in December 2019, both at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
At just 22 years old, Davis stopped Pedraza in the seventh round of an IBF junior lightweight title fight in October 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Isaac Cruz, Davis’ most recent opponent, snapped his 16-fight knockout streak. The determined Mexican challenger took Davis the 12-round distance December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and gave Davis the most difficult fight of his career.
The 27-year-old Davis still won a unanimous decision over Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) in a back-and-forth fight during which he aggravated an injury to his left hand early in it.
Cruz replaced Romero as Davis’ opponent late in October because a woman with whom Romero was acquainted accused him of sexually assaulting her in the fall of 2019. Detectives for the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department investigated her claim, but charges were not filed against Romero.
The North Las Vegas native’s vindication led to Mayweather Promotions and Premier Boxing Champions rescheduling his Showtime Pay-Per-View showdown versus Davis. Their 12-round, 135-pound title fight will headline a card at Barclays Center on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.