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Rolando Romero was confident he would withstand the most trying time of his life because he was certain the truth was on his side.
Romero informed Brian Custer during the newest episode of the Showtime broadcaster’s podcast that he believes money motivated “an evil person” to file a police report against him late in October in Henderson, Nevada. Police detectives in that Las Vegas suburb investigated a woman’s sexual assault allegation against Romero, which forced Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime to remove Romero from his pay-per-view main event versus Gervonta Davis, which was scheduled for December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
North Las Vegas’ Romero, 26, was not charged with a crime once the investigation was completed. His fight against Davis has been rescheduled for May 28 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but Romero reflected during his lengthy interview with Custer on the ordeal that changed the course of the undefeated lightweight contender’s career.
“I knew that I was innocent,” Romero told Custer during an episode of “The Last Stand Podcast” that premiered Monday night. “I knew that I had a good team behind me. So, it was just like it was a matter of time. It’s just like the only thing I didn’t wanna end up like let’s say for instance, DeShaun Watson or something, just being there for two years, without being able to do something. You know, that’s the only thing that really worried me. You know? But as far as like everything else, like, you know, I knew I was gonna be good.
“It’s just like let’s say for instance, right, let’s say ‘Tank’ lost to Isaac Cruz. That’s a fight that I wasn’t gonna get then. … Let’s say he woulda got in a car accident and broke his hand or some sh!t, that’s a fight that wouldn’t [have happened]. So, it’s like it just f—— up the entire opportunity for me, you know? And that’s what [worried] me. It’s like it was an opportunity that coulda just disappeared completely. Or it did disappear, you know? Now, you know, we’re back at it, you know, and I just hope that both of us could make it to fight night. You know?”
Watson, a star quarterback who was traded from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns on Friday, has been accused by 22 women in civil lawsuits of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. Criminal charges haven’t been filed against Watson, but he didn’t play for Houston during the 2021 season due to those accusations.
Romero, meanwhile, is preparing to face a strong southpaw whose 16-fight knockout streak ended in his most recent appearance.
Baltimore’s Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) was tested by Mexico’s Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs), who narrowly lost a 12-round unanimous decision December 5. Davis aggravated an injury to his left hand early in that bout, but it didn’t require surgery and allowed the WBA world lightweight champion to make this obligatory title defense against his mandatory challenger sooner rather than later.
The hard-hitting Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) is fully focused on preparing for the biggest fight of his career. He is especially appreciative of it because his title shot was taken away from him for what he feels was an attempt to hurt him financially.
Romero rubbed his fingers together to indicate it was about money when Custer asked him why he feels like this sexual assault allegation was levied against him approximately two years after the woman claimed it happened.
“Simple as that,” Romero said. “Just that. … It makes sense for one thing. Because if it was for something else [other than money], it woulda happened, you know, sooner. Correct? It happened literally in the biggest moment of my entire life, the moment in my life where I’m supposed to not only make an abundance of money, but you know, create a legacy for myself, you know? And I think it’s sad that I had to go through that and, you know, other celebrities and athletes go through it all the time, even though, a lot of this stuff, you know, I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen, I’m not saying that every f—–’ mother——’s a saint. But when it comes to money, 99 percent of the time I think it’s bullsh!t.”
Now that he can focus on his career again, Romero expressed gratitude to PBC founder Al Haymon, manager Luis DeCubas Jr. and Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather Promotions’ CEO, for supporting him throughout the toughest time of his life.
“Al and Luis, you know, they made sure I was good,” Romero said. “Mayweather Promotions’ team, Leonard Ellerbe, all this stuff, like you know, they all made sure I was good, you know? And they told me we were all gonna get through this, you know? … Like I said, I didn’t ever doubt that I wasn’t gonna get through this. It was just a giant – like, bruh, I mean I’m pretty sure anyone can look up and Google whatever story she told and it would just sound like complete bullsh!t.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.