Romero: Everybody's Underestimating Me; Tank's Gonna Get Knocked Out & That's That

Rolando Romero arrived shirtless again last Thursday for another press conference for his rescheduled showdown with Gervonta Davis.

Until they jawed at each other following the formal portion of the event, though, this was a more reserved Romero than the antagonist who relentlessly taunted Davis during their initial press conference October 21 in Los Angeles. There wasn’t as much trash talk between them Thursday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where they’ll square off in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event May 28.

Romero remained steadfast in his belief, though, that the undefeated Davis – and a lot of other people – are overlooking him in advance of this 12-round fight for Davis’ WBA secondary lightweight title.

“Everybody’s underestimating me,” Romero said. “But I mean, I started boxing at 17. I got my belt seven years in, but I mean, I just literally went in there and beat the sh*t out of everybody, you know? And this is not gonna change. He’s gonna get knocked out and that’s that.”

Romero referred to the WBA interim lightweight title that he owned before that sanctioning organization eliminated its interim championships in the aftermath of the Gabriel Maestre-Mykal Fox scandal last August.

Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) and Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) called each other names for nearly two full minutes once they began to pose for photographers on stage. Calvin Ford, Davis’ trainer, eventually pulled him away from Romero, who was much less animated as they taunted one another.

Baltimore’s Davis, 27, and North Las Vegas’ Romero, 26, were first scheduled to fight December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Mexico’s Isaac Cruz replaced Romero as Davis’ opponent on approximately five weeks’ notice because a woman with whom Romero was acquainted accused him of sexually assaulting her at some point in the fall of 2019.

Detectives for the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department investigated the woman’s claim, which was reported to police late in October. Charges were not filed against Romero, which led to Mayweather Promotions, Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime rescheduling their fight.

Davis defeated Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs), but the rugged Mexican contender ended Davis’ 16-fight knockout streak and became the first opponent to go 12 rounds with the three-division champion. The left-handed Davis won a unanimous decision, but many experts and fans consider Cruz the toughest opponent of Davis’ nine-year, 26-fight professional career.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.