Romero vs Barroso FULL FIGHT: May 13, 2023 | PBC on Showtime

Hard-hitting Rolando “Rolly’’ Romero fulfilled his lifelong dream of winning a world championship as the native Las Vegan recorded a ninth-round TKO against No. 1 contender Ismael Barroso trailing on all three judges’ scorecards to capture the vacant WBA Super Lightweight World Title.

A year after he last stepped into the ring and suffered the first loss of his career, Romero’s arms were raised as “the new” world champion. The 27-year-old survived a third-round knockdown and came back to hand the 40-year-old Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs) a stunning defeat on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® as many thought the fight was stopped prematurely by referee Tony Weeks, who waved off the contest at 2:41 of the ninth round.

“I’ll be honest, he’s a warrior and he should have been allowed to continue,” said Romero, who improved to 15-1 with 13 KOs and became the 89th fighter to perform on SHOBOX: The New Generation to go onto capture a world title. “He wanted to keep going and I wanted him to keep going as well.”

In his first fight at 140 pounds, Romero landed a powerful, pushing left hook that sent Barroso to the canvas in the ninth and when the fight resumed both fighters traded punches with Romero connecting on a powerful right, but missing on a left hook before Weeks stepped in and called the fight.

“The first punch was when I had him hurt to begin with,” Romero said. “It was right on the nose, it was a little clip.”

At the time of the stoppage, Romero was down on all three scorecards: 78-73, 77-74, 76-75.

“I think it was an injustice to stop the fight,” said Barroso, a late replacement after Alberto Puello, who previously held the WBA 140-pound title, had been stripped of his title because of a failed VADA test. “I was landing the better shots. It was a push on the first knockdown. It wasn’t a big blow or anything. The referee just stopped the fight, and he didn’t say anything. You can see it clearly. I’m the one who’s hitting him. There was nothing clear that he hit me with. I don’t understand why they stopped the fight.”

Barroso outlanded Romeo, 57-40, and threw 297 punches to 230 for Romero.

Romero was dropped by a strong Barroso left hand in the waning seconds of the third round as Romero touched the canvas for just the second time of his career as he was also knocked out by a Gervonta Davis left in his last fight a year ago.

“I boxed the entire time,” said Romero, who became the second Las Vegas native to win a world title along with Ishe Smith. “I came in a little cold. I got cracked and I got up like a champion and kept going.”

Romero was clear about his future intentions after the fight. “There’s only two fights I want,” he said. “There’s the rematch with Tank Davis. But I think there’s a much bigger option. I want to go after Ryan Garcia. We can do it on Showtime PPV.”

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