Report: Rolly Romero, Isaac Cruz Agree to Contract for 140-Pound Title Fight in March
Mike Chiari@@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 25, 2024
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Rolando “Rolly” Romero is reportedly set to defend the WBA super lightweight title against Isaac Cruz on March 30 in Las Vegas.
According to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Romero and Cruz agreed to a contract to be the co-main event on a boxing card that also includes WBO light middleweight champion Tim Tszyu vs. Keith Thurman.
Coppinger added that Cruz is moving up from 135 pounds to 140 pounds to contest Romero.
Ryan Garcia, who recently said he was scheduled to fight Romero on April 20, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to comment on Romero moving on to a different fight:
RYAN GARCIA @RyanGarciaLook I was informed the deal was finalizing and it would be announced in the coming days.
Obviously That was a lie.
My patience has been tested the last few weeks. I’m trying my best to be as honest and real as I can to you guys.
I’ll be looking forward to announcing myā¦
Romero is 15-1 in his professional career with 13 wins by way of knockout, and he is already the WBA super lightweight champion despite having only one super lightweight fight under his belt.
He used to fight at lightweight and beat Jackson MarĆƱez for the interim WBA lightweight title in 2020. After a couple of successful bouts, Romero attempted to beat Gervonta “Tank” Davis for the WBA (Regular) lightweight title, but Davis beat him by sixth-round technical knockout to improve to 27-0.
That marked the first loss of Romero’s career, but he bounced back to beat Ismael Barroso by ninth-round TKO in May 2023 to win the WBA super lightweight title.
The 25-year-old Cruz owns a 25-2-1 record with 17 wins by way of knockout, and he has won three bouts in a row following a loss to Davis in 2021.
In back-to-back fights, Cruz won the WBO inter-continental lightweight title and the WBC silver lightweight title in 2022.
He followed that up with a split-decision win over Giovanni Cabrera in July 2023, giving him the WBO Latino lightweight title as well.
Although the Mexican star is a decorated champion, the WBA super lightweight title would be his biggest and most prestigious title to date by a significant margin.
Tszyu vs. Thurman figures to be the true headliner of the card since Tszyu is undefeated and Thurman is 30-1, but Romero vs. Cruz is among the strongest co-main events that can be put together in boxing currently.
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