LAS VEGAS – Rolando “Rolly” Romero wants a rematch with Gervonta Davis.
The brash Romero realizes, too, that a fight against the contender that Davis knocked out last month would also attract a lot of attention. Romero thus discussed the possibility of boxing Ryan Garcia following a press conference Thursday at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to promote his fight against Ismael Barroso on Saturday night.
“There’s definitely the Ryan Garcia fight,” Romero told a small group of reporters. “I mean, I think everybody’s asking for me versus Ryan right now, especially at 140. You know, we’re both at 140 now. And I think that’s the fight. You know, I think that’s a massive fight and, you know, boxing needs that fight, you know? It has a long buildup – a long, long buildup.”
If the heavily favored Romero beats Barroso, he would own the vacant WBA super lightweight title and instantly would become an attractive opponent for any fighter in the 140-pound division. Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) will move back up to that weight when he returns to the ring later this year, but a Romero-Garcia fight would require another collaboration between Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (Romero) and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (Garcia).
Garcia dropped down to a catch weight of 136 pounds for his Showtime Pay-Per-View main event versus Davis (29-0, 27 KOs), which Davis won by seventh-round knockout April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Davis previously knocked out Romero in the sixth round of their lightweight fight last May 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) will make his 140-pound debut when he battles Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs) in a “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at The Cosmopolitan (9 p.m. EDT; 6 p.m. PDT). The 28-year-old Romero, of North Las Vegas, Nevada, and the 40-year-old Barroso, of El Tigre, Venezuela, will fight for the WBA’s unclaimed championship because Alberto Puello, Romero’s original opponent, was removed from their fight last month because he tested positive for clomiphene, a banned substance.
The Dominican Republic’s Puello (21-0, 10 KOs) has since been relegated to the WBA’s super lightweight champion in recess. If Puello’s B sample comes back positive, the WBA is expected to strip him of its 140-pound title.
As part of its decision to sanction this bout between the fifth-ranked Romero and the number one-ranked Barroso, the WBA ruled this week that the Romero-Barroso winner must fight England’s Ohara Davies (25-2, 18 KOs), its second-ranked contender, within 120 days of Saturday night.
Romero didn’t mention Davies on Thursday, but the hard-hitting former WBA interim lightweight champion feels that he has injected life into his new division.
“Man, 140 is a boring-ass division,” Romero said. “We’re gonna make this sh*t poppin’. We’re gonna turn it into a pay-per-view division and we’re gonna make it the most fun in boxing.”
Before Romero boxes Barroso, Showtime will air a 10-round co-feature between Cuban junior welterweight contender Rances Barthelemy (29-2-1, 15 KOs, 1 NC) and Omar Juarez (14-1, 5 KOs), of Brownsville, Texas. Uzbekistan’s Batyr Akhmedov (9-2, 8 KOs) and Chicago’s Kenneth Sims Jr. (19-2-1, 7 KOs) are set to meet in a 12-round WBA 140-pound elimination match, which will open Showtime’s three-bout broadcast.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.