Belizean trainer Cromwell Gordon leads Rolly Romero to controversial world title victory

Published by BBNTEAM at May 17, 2023

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Posted: Wednesday, May 17, 2023. 8:50 pm CST.

>By Aaron Humes: Disputed though it may be, history was made over the weekend when Belizean trainer Cromwell Gordon helped secure a world boxing championship for his charge Rolando “Rolly” Romero.

Romero was awarded a technical knockout (TKO) victory over Ismael Barroso in the ninth round for the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) junior welterweight title (weight limit 140 pounds) after referee Tony Weeks halted the bout in surprise fashion.

CBS Sports judged that Romero had been outboxed and knocked down in the third round and would need some late magic to turn the fight around, which appeared to come in round nine when his punch stunned Barroso, followed by a shove to the canvas. Barroso recovered and a heavy exchange followed in which Barroso was judged to be hitting cleaner and heavier, but Weeks still stepped in.

Romero, coming off a bad knockout by Gervonta “Tank” Davis at lightweight in his previous outing, admitted following the fight that he was not at his best: “I’ll be honest, he’s a warrior and he should have been allowed to continue…I boxed the entire time. I came in a little cold. I got cracked and I got up like a champion and kept going. I took my time and moved around. The man is strong so I had to be careful with him.”

Barroso earned a long-promised shot at the vacant belt when Romero’s original opponent, WBA champion Alberto Puello, failed a drug test. Despite many questioning Romero getting a world title shot in a new weight class after a knockout loss one weight class lower, the WBA moved Puello to “champion in recess” and granted Barroso a title shot basically three years in the making. Denied his chance to become world champion, Barroso lamented the “injustice” of the stoppage, saying of Weeks, “He just stopped the fight and didn’t tell me anything. There was nothing clear [Romero] hit me with. Then [Weeks] stopped the fight. We don’t understand.”

Romero will celebrate for now but his first defense may well be a rematch with Barroso.

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