Gervonta Davis knocks out Rolando Romero with explosive left hand
Rolando Romero fought way better than a 10-1 underdog could be expected to in his lightweight title fight against Gervonta “Tank” Davis on Saturday at the Barclays Center in New York.
But when fighting Davis, fighting well isn’t enough.
In a battle of knockout artists, a counter left hand by Davis is all it took to end the fight at 2:39 of the sixth round.
GOODNIGHT BROOKLYN 😴@Gervontaa KOs Romero in round 6 with a POWER left hand 😳#DavisRomero pic.twitter.com/O9KPaxRvHi
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) May 29, 2022
Romero had talked an incredible amount of trash before the fight and had predicted a first-round knockout. But instead of turning it into a wild brawl, Romero fought a smart and controlled fight, keeping himself in the bout.
Davis was leading on two of the three cards at the time of the stoppage. Ron McNair had Davis 49-46 and Robin Taylor had him 48-47. Kevin Morgan had it 48-47 for Romero. Yahoo Sports had it 48-47 for Davis.
It wasn’t expected that judges’ would matter in this one, as both undefeated fighters had huge knockout rates. Davis came in with 24 knockouts among his 26 wins, and Romero had 12 knockouts in his 14 wins.
The fight ended when Romero threw a straight right hand kind of wide. Davis immediately came with a left and Romero fell face-first into the ropes. He got up, but referee David Fields looked into his eyes and stopped it.
Davis compared it to Juan Manuel Marquez’s knockout of Manny Pacquiao in 2012.
“The crazy thing is, I didn’t throw it hard,” Davis said of the final blow. “I just threw it and he ran right into it. I didn’t throw it that hard.”
Davis retained his WBA title with the win and will have a lot of options. Next week in Melbourne, Australia, unified champion George Kambosos Jr. will face Devin Haney for the undisputed title. Davis is in prime position to face that winner.
He said he was open to any big fight, and said he’d bank on his power.
“There ain’t no safety on this Glock and I got a lot of ammunition,” Davis said of his left hand.
Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero main card results
Lightweight: Gervonta Davis def. Rolando Romero by TKO at 2:30 of Round 6
Middleweight: Erislandy Lara def. Gary O'Sullivan by TKO at 0:23 of Round 8
Super welterweight: Jesus Ramos def. Luke Santamaria by unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 97-93)
Super featherweight: Eduardo Ramirez def. Luis Melendez by majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 98-92)