Rolando Romero, also known as ‘Rolly’ Romero, has relinquished his title as the WBA super lightweight champion, citing an apparent injury. This development coincided conveniently with the scheduled purse bid for a fight with Ohara Davies on July 24th. As a result, Romero no longer holds the WBA title, and two worthy contenders will compete for the belt on a later date.
The news of Romero’s injury was released on July 23rd, just a day before the scheduled purse bid on July 24th, raising eyebrows about its timing. Following this announcement, further attention has been drawn to Romero, who is now placed in the champion-in-recess status. This designation means that his WBA super lightweight title has been vacated, and upon his recovery, he will have the opportunity to face the current WBA titleholder.
The perplexing aspect of this situation lies in the undisclosed nature of Romero’s injury, which has not been publicized since the initial reports of July 23rd. While the WBA is reportedly aware of his injury status, having received medical documents for confirmation, the lack of public information raises concerns.
In most sports, especially with well-recognized athletes, injuries are typically publicized. In Romero’s case, nearly four months have passed without any indication of the nature of his ailment. While the sensitivity of the injury may explain the lack of information, the secrecy surrounding Romero’s condition leads to speculation.
Although the WBA cannot be explicitly accused of any wrongdoing, the lack of transparency in designating Romero as a champion-in-recess due to injury leaves uncertainties about whether Romero is genuinely incapacitated due to mental or physical ailments. Given the prevalence of corruption in boxing, the silence from Romero’s team and the WBA does not alleviate concerns of potential deception, especially considering the questionable decisions made by sanctioning bodies in the past year.
Adding to the mystery, the WBA did not publicly report Rolly Romero’s demoted status; instead, they simply made the necessary adjustments to their rankings. While it is reasonable to expect a sanctioning body to communicate such developments, the WBA, despite providing daily updates on fights and fighters, did not officially announce the relinquishment of Romero’s WBA title and his change of status to champion-in-recess.
While there is no concrete evidence of foul play by the WBA, the questionable handling of Rolando Romero’s injury and champion-in-recess status only increases suspicion in a sport that has been plagued by underhanded decisions from established organizations involved in boxing.
