Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz did not agree to the fight against Ryan Garcia in May because he was scheduled for a clash on February 1st. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero was then offered the fight, which he accepted.
Dan Rafael reports that the Garcia vs. Romero, Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez, and Martin Bakole vs. Efe Ajagba card will occur on Friday, May 2nd, in Times Square in New York City. Although having a big event like that on a Friday is kind of weird, fans won’t mind because this is an excellent card.
Cruz Out, Rolly In
Cruz would been the perfect opponent for Garcia. However, he’s fighting Angel Fierro on the undercard of David Benavidez vs. David Morrell on February 1st on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Rolly (16-2, 13 KOs) is not a great fight for Ryan because he was recently knocked out by Pitbull Cruz in the eighth round last year on March 30th. Romero bounced back from that loss to defeat Manuel Jaimes by a 10-round unanimous decision on September 14th on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga. Rolly didn’t perform well in that fight either, but he had a harmless opponent.
Using Rolly as ‘the opponent’ is a very poor option for Ryan Garcia in a headliner on DAZN PPV. Obviously, it’s a tune-up for Kingry, so you can give him a break in that department, but it’s not fair to the fans to use a fighter with a 2-2 record in his last three fights as the B-side for a pay-per-view card.
Rolly’s actual record should be 1-3 in his last four fights because his victory over Ismael Barroso was highly controversial because the referee, Tony Weeks, jumped in and stopped the fight in the 9th round in their clash on May 13, 2023.
Rolly had thrown four punches, all missing badly, and Weeks waved it off. Barroso was unhurt, standing and looking at Weeks, ‘What are you doing?’ Fans were shocked at the stoppage and there was criticism for months after. At the time, Rolly was trailing and on his way to losing the fight.
There are many contenders in the 140 and 147-lb top 15 rankings more deserving of a fight against Ryan Garcia on May 2nd than Rolly Romero. However, if the idea is to ensure that Ryan doesn’t get beat ahead of his rematch with Haney in October, then Rolly is the man for the job. He’s not a threat to beating Ryan, and will likely get knocked out within six rounds.
