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Rolly Romero Training Camp Quotes
WBA Welterweight World Champion Rolly Romero previewed his
showdown against two-division world champion Teofimo Lopez
and gave his insights on the significance of their world
title showdown taking place Saturday, August 22 headlining a
PBC Pay-Per-View event available on DAZN and Prime Video
from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
While Romero acknowledges his friendship with Lopez, which
includes multiple sparring sessions between the two
champions, he made it clear that it won’t have any bearings
on the outcome when they go toe-to-toe under the bright
lights.
“Yeah we’re friends and we know each other’s families, but
none of that matters on August 22,” said Romero. “I’m
looking to be a Hall of Famer, just like Teofimo is. The
only way to do that is to go through each other!
“That’s what’s wrong with boxing nowadays. Everybody wants
to be friends, but they’re scared to fight each other and
instead forget why we all got into this sport to begin with.
That’s to become a legend and one of the best of our
generation.”
The Las Vegas-native has had success and won titles at 135,
140 and 147 pounds, reaching the pinnacle of the sport in
just 15 pro fights as he challenged lightweight superstar
Gervonta Davis in a 2022 super fight. Despite coming up on
the short end against Davis, the 30-year-old continued to
add accolades, becoming a super lightweight world champion
with a ninth-round TKO over Ismael Barroso in 2023.
After losing the title to Mexican superstar Isaac “Pitbull”
Cruz in 2024, he got back into the win column later that
year against Manuel Jaimes, before making his move to 147
pounds. Once again facing a fellow star of this generation,
Romero pulled off the upset over Ryan Garcia by dropping him
in round two on his way to a unanimous decision victory that
earned him the WBA title.
As he heads into another career-defining bout, Romero gives
much of the credit to his trainer, the famed Ismael Salas,
who invoked a game plan that completely shut out Garcia’s
usually prolific power-punching.
“To me, Salas is the greatest trainer of all time,” said
Romero, who’s had Salas in his corner for his last three
bouts. “Who has won world titles with more fighters than
Salas? He doesn’t ever get the flowers he deserves when they
bring up Trainer of the Year.
“We’ve always had good chemistry together, like peanut
butter and jelly. Salas knows exactly how to train me and
what we need to work on to get the win. On August 22, we’re
going to prove to everybody why nobody should ever bet
against us again.”
In Lopez, Romero is faced with an opponent who has equal his
experience in big fights, having stepped in for marquee
matchups against Shakur Stevenson, Vasily Lomachenko and
Josh Taylor throughout his own world title runs at 135 and
140 pounds. With each fighter bringing top-level pedigree
and fan-friendly styles, Romero believes August 22 shapes up
to be a memorable night for this era of boxing.
This is going to be an action packed, Fight of the Year kind
of fight,” said Romero. “Teo and I are always in
entertaining fights. We’re the most entertaining fighters in
the world. Definitely the best self-promoters in the world.
Nobody can ever say we’re runners or we’re in boring fights
like some of these other fighters y’all love to praise. We
don’t run, we like to punch. And that’s what y’all can
expect on August 22, the biggest fight of the year from the
sport’s most entertaining fighters.”
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