Former Lightweight WBA interim champion, Rolando “Rolly” Romero, made news recently after a short sparring session as leaked where he was dropped by prospect J’Hon Ingram who is currently has a record of 3-0 (with 3 KO’s) as a professional.
27-year old Rolly Romero (14-1, 12 KO’s) was a highly-touted prospect less than a year ago before his ultimate defeat to Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KO’s). A product of the Mayweather Gym, the American became more widely known for his rambunctious and ultra-confident behavior outside of the ring. Before facing Davis, he was not only considered one of the best Lightweights in the division but also one of the best for his age. He held a 14-0 (12 KO’s) record prior to his first loss to Davis on the 28th of May in 2022, impressing not only due to his slick boxing style that grew comparisons to a younger version of his gym owner, Floyd Mayweather Jr., but also the power he showed throughout his fights by garnering an impressive KO ratio of 85%.
Romero’s career seemed to come tumbling down, however, after facing Gervonta Davis in a fight that was much more evenly-matched then the scorecards and the result suggested. He eventually was stopped by Davis in the 6th round, but showed a very good account of himself as a Lightweight competitor.
As boxing is a competition, a natural evolution of a fighter often means losing, and Rolly Romero’s loss was not necessarily treated as a detriment even with the expectations he had set for himself prior to his bout with Davis. Recently however, the leakage of a sparring video with 3-0 American prospect, J’Hon Ingram, has changed the view on his level of talent, and the potential he has further within the sport.
In the video, Rolly Romero can be seen pouncing on Ingram at the ropes, but during an exchange, Ingram lands a vital uppercut that sends Romero drop to the floor. Though such incidents are not rare in the sport and we don’t have a full picture of their complete sparring session, the fact Romero was knocked down by a 3-0 prospect gives off all the wrong signals.
J’Hon is not necessarily a weak fighter even with his three fights, in which he stopped or knocked out each one of his opponents. There is a wide difference in experience that the two have, however, and the fact Romero was dropped in the same manner as he did against Davis while wearing headgear suggests there may be a susceptibility to his chin, rather than just a lack of defensive fundamentals.
In boxing, having a strong chin is vital towards maintaining a long and fruitful career, and a lack of it can be very detrimental to one’s future in the sport. Just some examples include Floyd Patterson, a former fighter of the legendary Cus D’Amato, Leon Spinks and Amir Khan. As weak chins do not intricately link to one’s mentality, Romero’s knockdown might be a sign of things to come, similar to how Amir Khan’s career took a similar downturn when he was knocked out in just the first round by Breidis Prescott in 2008.
Khan seemed prone to stoppage and knockout losses ever since, and Rolly Romero can face the same future if the proper work is not done. Though it is quite hard to built up a chin that’s weak – or has been weakened – Romero’s viral knockdown is an opportunity for him to improve in his defensive fundamentals and his toughness. Even if his knockdown against J’Hon Ingram in sparring will be considered an embarrassment, Romero recovered relatively quickly as seen in the video, and further improvement on strengthening his chin can go a long way into subverting the current opinion about his vulnerability in the ring.
