LAS VEGAS – Rolando “Rolly” Romero and his trainer would love for him to get another crack at Gervonta Davis.
They’re convinced that what he learned in their fight last May 28 would enable Romero to defeat Davis if they fought again. Cromwell Gordon, Romero’s trainer, doesn’t expect the undefeated Davis to take that chance, especially now that the unbeaten Baltimore native has become a bigger pay-per-view attraction than when he knocked out Romero in the sixth round almost a year ago at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“He wouldn’t wanna do it again because he knows the danger of it,” Gordon told BoxingScene.com. “And with him going up to being a blockbuster pay-per-view star and all that, and then you get a rematch with Rolly, that’s two of your toughest fights in your whole career. Because the first fight with Rolly he knew he would be tested. That put fear in him. And he said it – if he would’ve got caught by one of them [punches], it’s over. You know what I’m saying?”
Davis approached Romero carefully because he was well aware of his opponent’s power. Eventually, however, the smart, powerful southpaw set a trap and landed a left hand that sent Romero to the canvas and led to a stoppage after Romero beat the count of referee David Fields.
Romero’s impatience cost him versus Davis, yet Gordon feels his tactical mistake taught the cocky contender an invaluable lesson.
“Now you’ve got Rolly with the patience, [Davis] with the patience – then it’s a real chess match,” Gordon said. “So now, does he really want that smoke? Don’t know. We’ll have to see where the guts and the balls and the intangibles come in, if they’ll take that fight. It’s easy to take a Ryan Garcia fight, because you knew you were gonna beat him. It’s not easy to take this fight.”
Baltimore’s Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) knocked out Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) in the seventh round of their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unlike Garcia, Romero led Davis on one scorecard entering the round in which he was knocked out (48-47, 47-48, 46-49).
The 28-year-old Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) will fight for the first time Saturday night since Davis defeated him. The North Las Vegas native will battle Venezuela’s Ismael Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs) in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBA super lightweight title.
Showtime will televise Romero-Barroso as the main event of a tripleheader from The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (9 p.m. EDT; 6 p.m. PDT).
The 40-year-old Barroso replaced Dominican southpaw Alberto Puello (21-0, 10 KOs) as Romero’s opponent because Puello tested positive for clomiphene, a banned substance, last month. Puello probably will be stripped of the WBA super lightweight title if his B sample comes back positive, but he is the WBA champion in recess.
Most sportsbooks list Romero as a 10-1 favorite, but Romero and Gordon have stressed that Barroso is a dangerous puncher.
“He can crack and he throws a lotta punches, in variety,” Gordon said. “But that’s what’s gonna make him tired faster. And by seven, eight rounds, we’ll start seeing his diminished conditioning, stamina, and that’s when Rolly will take over. … I think if [Barroso] gets hit to the body, he might not wanna continue.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.