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For almost all of the first six rounds of his fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Rolando Romero fought in a disciplined manner, using his reach and jab to keep Davis from doing much offensively. However, it only takes one punch from Davis to change a fight and in round 6 he ended with a thud.
Romero opened by scuffing the jab, using it both as a range finder and as a deterrent to Davis’ attempts to get in and land his signature left hands and uppercuts. This strategy worked well for Romero as the rounds progressed as Davis circled the ring looking for landing opportunities rather than offloading and controlling the action.
Romero also bent the rules almost to the point of breaking, repeatedly using his elbows and throwing Davis to the canvas after landing a clean right hand in the second round. He received several warnings from the referee, although no point was awarded for the repeated fouls.
Romero seemed to feel like he had the moment to step up his attack in round six as he tracked Davis to the ropes and attempted to unload with his wild power punches. Davis released calmly with a left-hand counterattack that caught Romero clean and sent him face-first into the ropes before sliding to the canvas.
Romero was able to beat the count and get up, but the referee didn’t like Romero’s reaction to his orders and gave up the fight, giving Davis another highlight knockout in a young career already filled to the brim with fight-ending shots.
“The crazy thing is I didn’t even throw that hard,” Davis said of the fight-ending punch, comparing it to Juan Manuel Marquez’s one-punch knockout on Manny Pacquiao in 2012. “I just got it thrown and he ran right in, thank god he’s good.”
Both men’s punching performance was probably less than many expected when they came into the fray. Both men — Romero in particular — had been talking trash before the clash, and there was significant bad blood between the two.
Instead of an all-out exchange of blows, both men proceeded in a very calculated manner, with Davis landing just 25 total shots and landing 22 for Romero.
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Attention now turns to Davis’ future. The clash with Romero was originally scheduled for this December when allegations of sexual assault against Romero caused him to pull out of the fight and Davis instead faced Isaac Cruz. After defeating his rival, the door is open to some big potential fights for the WBA “regular” lightweight champion.
A fight with Ryan Garcia or the winner of the upcoming undisputed lightweight title fight between George Kambosos Jr. and Devin Haney could be in Davis’ future. These great fights were acknowledged by Davis, although he refused to name anyone.
“I’m here, baby, I’m here,” Davis said. “Whatever you want to do, I’m here baby. There’s no security on this Glock, you know? There is no safety on this Glock and I have plenty of ammo.”
The undercard also saw the return of Erislandy Lara when the veteran took on another vet in “Spike” O’Sullivan. Lara beat the Irishman with his counterattack for eight rounds before scoring the goal when the referee had seen enough. Lara, 39, has now won four straight and hopes to become a loaded middleweight player.
CBS Sports was with you all night in Brooklyn, so be sure to follow the live scores and highlights below.
Davis vs. Romero fight card, results
- Gervonta “Tank” Davis (c) def. Rolando “Rolly” Romero via TKO in the sixth round
- Erislandy Lara (c) vs. Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan via TKO in the eighth round
- Jesus Ramos defeated. Luke Santamaria by unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 97-93)
- Eduardo Ramirez defeated. Luis Melendez by majority vote (95-95, 96-94, 98-92)
Davis vs. Romero scorecard
| Davis | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | TKO | 46 | ||||||
| Romero | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 49 |
