Gervonta Davis stops Rolando Romero in 6th, retains lightweight belt – Press Telegram
By Brian Mahoney
NEW YORK – Gervonta Davis seemed annoyed enough by all of Rolando Romero’s conversations to throw him off the stage lightly in his weigh-in.
It hit Romero much harder on Saturday.
Davis regained his knockout power and maintained his lightweight title on Saturday night, stopping Romero in the sixth round.
Davis got a crushing left hand near the corner and Romero fell forward on the ropes. He struggled and got up but staggered all the way and referee David Fields ended the fight.
“It simply came to our notice then. He just ran into him, “Davis said.
Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) had to cover the distance in his last win only for the second time in his career, and Romero said that proved the three-division champion was vulnerable.
If Davis was, it wasn’t for long. He appeared to injure his left hand in a punch on the fifth lap, but there was nothing wrong with the next.
Shortly after leaving the ring, many fans trying to get out of the Barclays Center ran back to the sand floor, some even jumping into the ring terrified due to an unknown commotion near the exit. Security kept some fans in one area for a while until it was fixed.
Romero lost for the first time in 15 professional fights, but did not finish speaking after doing so much in the weeks before the fight. In fact, he wants another.
“I won all six rounds,” Romero said. “I won every moment of that fight, I exposed it and we have to get that (fight) back.”
It was an electrifying finale for the return of big boxing in Brooklyn, where Davis won his first title in 2017. He set a record 18,970 for this fight, with the first big card at the Barclays Center since before pandemic two began. years ago including Madonna and a number of sports stars.
Davis and Romero were due to fight in December, but the opponent was removed from the card while an allegation of sexual assault against him was being investigated. Davis defeated substitute Isaac Cruz by unanimous decision, after knocking out all opponents since 2015.
The fight was rescheduled after no charges were filed against Romero and the buildup featured many words of garbage from the challenger. Davis laughed with most of the conversation, until on Friday he pushed Romero and learned something about how to handle his opponent.
“He knew he could get into his head, just since we weighed in,” Davis said.
Romero repeatedly boasted of knocking Davis out in a round, but the only significant blows in the first three minutes were landed during a bench fight. He scored well with a few shots in the second, but then missed the opportunity to follow when he pushed Davis to the canvas as they pressed.
The fight was fairly evenly matched through four rounds and Davis appeared to be on his way to his most dominant round in the fifth when the Baltimore native grimaced suddenly after appearing to injure his hand. Whatever the problem, it didn’t last long.
“I didn’t even throw him so hard and it was he who came across him, when he talked about it was going to be me,” Davis said.
With both fighters promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Romero claimed they were supposed to play several times, but Davis backed down. He finally had his chance less than 10 years ago after starting his boxing career, after switching from judo to 17.
He was the No. 1 candidate, but clearly he was still a long way from Davis.
“Tank Davis is on another level,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “He showed you why he’s one of the best fighters in the world.”
After walking to the ring while listening to many boos from the pro-Davis crowd, Romero jumped on the ropes and jumped defiantly. Davis then came in and danced to Romero’s corner and looked at him, as if preparing to start fighting at that moment.
Once it started, it took a few rounds to warm up before discovering and finishing Romero.
In the co-feature, Erislandy Lara, the long-time 154-pound champion who went to 160 and won a title, stopped Gary O’Sullivan 23 seconds into the eighth round. Lara (29-3-3, 17 KOs) landed on the left and seemed ready to finish off O’Sullivan in the final seconds of the seventh before the bell rang. O’Sullivan was allowed to start the eighth but the Cuban threw him back with another hard left and referee Benjy Esteves ignited the end of the fight.
Gervonta Davis stops Rolando Romero in 6th, retains lightweight belt – Press Telegram Source link Gervonta Davis stops Rolando Romero in 6th, retains lightweight belt – Press Telegram
