After increasing calls for Rolando Romero to defend his WBA Super Lightweight belt, the fighter finally undertook his defence for the title on 30th March. However, while he’d have hoped to retain the belt under his kitty, his opponent, Isaac Cruz swooped in, and established his dominance, to win it. The loss left ‘Rolly’ and his supporters in a sense of disbelief.
Those in shock included Floyd Mayweather. The former welterweight champion, who stood by Rolly since the inception of his boxing career wrote a heartfelt note in the wake of his devastating loss. In it, ‘Money’ drew from his own experience of defeats to teach his prodigy a lesson on embracing loss. Here is what the Mayweather Promotions kingpin had to say.
On his Instagram, 47-year-old Mayweather posted an image of him with his Las Vegas-origin fighter. While asking him to not let the defeat misalign him from his goal, ‘Pretty Boy’ invoked the achievements Rolly has made so far. He wrote, “I’m incredibly proud of you for achieving the remarkable feat of becoming a 2-time world champion in less than 18 fights, all without any prior amateur background, and in just 14 years of total fighting experience.”
In November 2016, right before his debut, the fighter signed with Mayweather Promotions, and fights under the stable to date. As a mentor, Mayweather explained that wins and losses are two sides of the same coin in the sport of boxing and life in general. He continued, ” In this journey, we call life, you’ll win and you’ll lose, that’s the game. But in life, we all face losses, including myself. So remember, when people try to knock you down, don’t let it keep you there.”
“Get back up, stay true to yourself, and acknowledge just how much you’ve accomplished,” he concluded. For Romero, the loss comes unexpectedly. While the power of his opponent, ‘The Pitbull’ was quite heard of, he showed no signs of concern until the gong went off. In the first round itself, he was silenced with a left hook to the head. While he recovered from the blow, he hardly managed to faze his opponent. In the sixth round, he was dropped to the canvas. Isaac Cruz was crowned the WBA champion via a technical knocko
ut.
While his well-wishers have embraced Rolly in the wake of his career’s second loss, the fighter displayed extreme sportsmanship. Post the fight, he gracefully conceded to Cruz.
At the post-fight presser, Romero, disappointed from the loss kept it simple. He did not make allegations nor did he make claims he could not back up. “We gave the fans a great fight,” said Romero. “Unfortunately, we came up short. I want to thank ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and all the fans that came out and made this a great event. I’ll be back,” he remarked.
While it is unsure where he will take his career next, it will be interesting how he will return to the ring. Who do you think the fighter should go against next?
