Former WBA Interim Lightweight champion, Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, has slammed Shakur Stevenson and claimed that he doesn’t matter in boxing due to the lack of stoppage victories on his record.
Romero has emerged as a title contender over the last couple of years, defeating Anthony Yigit for the WBA Interim Lightweight belt in July 2021. He received the first loss of his career in his next outing, losing to Gervonta Davis in a shot at the Regular title, before moving to the super-lightweight division.
Despite the loss, the popularity of ‘Rolly’ grew from his clash with ‘Tank’, mainly due to a heated build-up packed with plenty of one-liners from the 27-year-old.
He’s kept that energy when discussing other fighters, and recently explained his lack of interest in a bout with Stevenson in an interview with Showtime Sports – and it’s not just because they’re one weight apart.
“I’m obviously not scared of him, he can’t crack, he has no power. He is a boring fighter, he is not marketable, we’ve got to try and market him a certain way, right? By making him seem like he is this person that he is not.
We are not the same weight-class, it would be hard to make the fight happen, he is not with the PBC, he’s with Top Rank. So, already the fight would be difficult to get made, and he has some people on his side that he needs to get past.”
“I have no beef with him, he doesn’t exist in my life in reality. He is nobody, nobody cares about him. Everybody wants to say all this stuff, but if you ain’t knocking people out, you don’t matter in boxing. That’s the way that I look at it, he is not even on my radar, he doesn’t matter.”
Stevenson is a two-weight world champion, and has recently put the 135lb division on notice by moving up and calling out the top dogs. In his 20 fight pro career, he has a 50% knockout ratio.
Romero is set to challenge for the WBA Super-lightweight title this Saturday against Ismael Barroso. The bout was previously for the interim strap, but Alberto Puello has been made champion in recess following a positive doping test.