Controversial Win For Rolly Sparks Reaction In Boxing Community- ‘Criminal’
Rolando Romero’s win over Ismael Barroso raised many eyebrows, with the boxing community, in general, being very vocal.
First up, Paulie Malignaggi hit out at referee Tony Weeks’ decision to call off the fight, as Barroso suffered a ninth-round TKO.
Absolutely disgraceful stoppage by Tony Weeks. Man should never ref another boxing match again. Ismael Barroso was a little gassed but nowhere close to being hurt. Embarrassing. Congrats to Rolly Romero on a gift-wrapped win. #RomeroBarrosopic.twitter.com/SH91ppVDe1
— WG (@NvictusManeo) May 14, 2023
The victory gave Romero his first-ever world title, as he picked up the WBA light welterweight title. While that may have been the case, the decision raised many eyebrows.
Barroso, who has a record of 24-4-2 with 22 KOs, was not visibly injured and was still actively firing back.
With that being said, Malignaggi demanded that the authorities intervene to grant a rematch, as both Showtime and the WBA were called out to act.
This was particularly given that Romero had suffered a third-round knockdown, as well as being behind on all the scorecards.
“I thought the knockdown was a push-down. Okay, you can forgive that mistake, but you cannot forgive the stoppage. First of all, this is the worst referee call that I’ve ever seen.
“Possibly worse than [Meldrick] Taylor & [Julio Cesar] Chavez. Barroso is not even hurt. He’s fighting back. He’s just fatigued, he’s not hurt.
“That stoppage was criminal, and when you put it into play for what Barroso needs in his life and how he probably needed this win,” Malignaggi
But one person who has come to Weeks’ defense has been Romero’s coach Cromwell Gordon. He made it clear that the referee took the appropriate course of action to protect Barroso.
“I love the fact that he didn’t care about nothing else but the job that he had to do. The Ref Did His Job,” Gordon
As such, Romero has already set his sights on facing either Gervonta Davis or Ryan Garcia.
And yet, this could pose some problems. Prior to fighting Barroso, Rolly was going to face Alberto Puello on the basis the winner faced Barroso.
However, Puello failed a VADA test as the WBA downgraded him to a ‘champion in recess’ until he proved his innocence.
This meant that the winner of Rolly vs Barroso would now be required to face Ohara Davies.
Therefore, the latter’s manager, Lee Eaton, stated that anything other than that would be cause for legal action.
“If [the WBA] don’t [order Romero-Davies], then we will proceed with legal proceedings,” Lee Eaton, Davies’ manager, told BoxingScene.com. “We [have] already been shafted by letting Rolly fight for the vacant title.
“We ain’t accepting no step aside fee.”
Social Media Reaction
More accountability from refs for bad decisions is a must.
— Tony Acosta (@TonyAcostaUS) May 14, 2023
Disgrace
— Steffan Jones (@Steffanpjones1) May 14, 2023
Boxing is corrupt
— Derrick Akona (@Dakona50) May 14, 2023