WBA super-lightweight champion Rolando Romero is preparing to make a first defence of his world title this weekend, and the outspoken American is not short of confidence, despite going into the bout as the underdog.
Romero controversially claimed the WBA title with an extremely soft ninth-round ‘knockout’ win whilst behind on the cards against Ismael Barroso last May.
Ten months later and Romero is poised to fight Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, a man renowned for his formidable chin after taking Gervonta Davis twelve rounds and giving ‘Tank’ a relatively close call on the scorecards.
However, like Romero, Cruz isn’t headed into the bout with tremendous form, with his lone fight of 2023 being a scrappy split-decision win over Giovanni Cabrera, who he had difficulty walking down throughout the fight, due to his distinct physical disadvantages.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Romero laughed off claims of Cruz being difficult to stop, before offering an extreme prediction which will be his first since teaming with Cuban coach Ismael Salas, who has trained the likes of Guilermo Rigondeaux, Joe Joyce and Kazuto Ioka.
“It’s not that he tucks his chin [well], he just has no neck.
“This mother****er wouldn’t beat me on my worst day. That’s all I can say.
“[I predict that I knock Cruz out in] about 30/40 seconds? I do my best work in about 30/40 seconds.”
Romero-Cruz takes place on Saturday night, being the highlight of the undercard of a bill headlined by Tim Tszyu’s super-welterweight unification clash against Sebastian Fundora.
Additionally there are a further two world title fights on offer, in what looks set to be a phenomenal card for PBC’s debut with new broadcaster, Amazon Prime, although fans in the United Kingdom will be forced to watch through an alternative platform.