In a rare showing for boxing, an official has responded to criticism faced for a recent call – namely the stoppage of the WBA Super Lightweight World title fight between Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero and Ismael Barroso.
Referee Tony Weeks has been on the receiving end of condemnation from most voices in the sport following his decision to wave off the fight and announce Romero as the new champion – one that has been discussed as potentially the ‘worst ever.’
‘Rolly’, 27, was dropped in the third round by a Barroso, 40, left hand. In the ninth, the younger man would turn the tables with a knockdown of his own – a clean hook followed by a push to the canvas.
After beating the count, Barroso was on the defensive as Romero ploughed in, but, crucially, really didn’t land anything of note – many say anything at all. Weeks stepped in to wave it off. Barroso was on his feet and seemingly clear-headed.
The ref spoke to NY Fights about the decision.
“What was in my mind was, a 40 year old fighter, in a young man’s game. Any official will tell you, you get a fight, and a fighter is at an advanced age, you’re going to look at him a little harder than the other fighter … When I look at a fighter who’s up there in age, there’s two things I look at: his reaction when he takes his first hit, and his stamina in the later rounds.
“Up until the stoppage, Romero didn’t really land flush, he landed flush in that last round. When he landed flush, Barroso went down. It told me right then and there, I don’t know if he can take it.”
With the benefit of hindsight, he says he wouldn’t have stopped it if he had caught the action clearly.
“Now, looking at it on the replay, of course I don’t have at the time the advantage of slow motion replay, five different angles. If I had been in that position I wouldn’t have stopped the fight. Point blank I wouldn’t have stopped the fight.
Barroso was definitely on a short leash, Romero landed, it prompted me to stop the fight. In boxing, all it takes is one punch.”
Weeks went on to say that Barroso was definitely hurt, and that a 40-year-old can take a punch like somebody twenty years his junior.
The referee – who has been active since 1994 and called over 800 bouts – made his most pertinent point as a general one. Although he got this specific wrong in the eyes of a vast majority, he says he was driven by a serious responsibility.
“It’s easy for someone on the outside [to criticise the decision], but they don’t have the responsibility of what happens to that fighter.”
Despite calls for a rematch, Romero looks set to move on and face the UK’s Ohara Davies in his first title defence – although he has been tempted by a potential Ryan Garcia fight, too.