Rolando “Rolly” Romero talks the talk but according to Shakur Stevenson, he really doesn't walk the walk.
By and large, Romero’s ability to separate his foes from their consciousness has been well-documented. But, despite knocking out the majority of his opponents, Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) isn’t impressed with his skills and considers his words mendacious.
“Rolly is the biggest conman in boxing,” said Stevenson during an interview with Say Cheese. “I ain’t gonna lie, dude can sell a fight. He's one of those dudes that can talk but nah, Rolly can’t fight. He trash, he a bum.”
Romero, recently, did himself no favors. Just a few short weeks ago, the 27-year-old struggled against Ismael Barroso, a long faded fringe contender at 140 pounds. At one point, Romero, who was a monumental favorite on the night, kissed the deck and was thoroughly outboxed. Luckily for Romero, he enjoyed a string of good luck, including a head-scratching stoppage by referee Tony Weeks, despite not landing a single significant punch during their ninth-round exchange.
Controversial victory aside, Romero (15-1, 13 KOs) is now hoping that his next opponent will be the wildly popular Ryan Garcia. According to Stevenson, Romero’s desire to face Garcia isn’t entirely surprising. On April 22nd, the 24-year-old played a major role in reportedly selling 1.2 million pay-per-view buys against Gervonta Davis.
Those numbers, paired with millions of dollars at the live gate, and Stevenson has a hunch that Romero isn’t necessarily interested in facing the best fighters out there or actually winning but instead, the former Olympic silver medalist believes that Romero is simply looking to fatten his bank account. With that in mind, Stevenson has learned to tune out all of the brazen trash talk Romero has levied in his direction.
“I’m on a high level of boxing. When a bum talking to you, you know he just wants a payday. He looking for a big payday right now.”