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Rolly Romero Vs. Ryan Garcia Clash Turns Into ‘World Title’ Bout As WBA Introduces ‘Regular’ Title

Ryan Garcia Vs. Rolly Romero Fight Turns Into 'World Title' Bout As WBA Introduces 'Regular' Title featured image
Rolando 'Rolly'' Romero seems to be highly favored by the WBA who has instantly made the WBA "regular" welterweight title available for his upcoming fight against Ryan Garcia, rumored to be staged in May of this year. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The WBA is not stopping its attempts to further alienate itself from boxing with the latest reports suggesting they will make the vacant WBA “regular” welterweight (147 lbs) title available for the upcoming Riyadh Season clash between Rolly Romero (16-2, 13 KO’s) and Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s). According to The Ring, Garcia and Romero are set to fight for the title on the undercard of a May card that will reportedly be headlined by Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) and Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2, 18 KO’s) who will also be fighting in the 147-pound division.

Of course, such a bout raises concerns surrounding the validity of the WBA as a sanctioning body with the organization already having a steep track record in corruption. Moreover, the very introduction of the WBA “regular” titles, which are acknowledged as world titles in their own right, continues to provide no added benefit to boxing.

Through its presence, the “regular” title is often a source of confusion due to there usually being a WBA “super” champion who is also regarded as a world champion. The distinction between a “regular” and “super” champion can often be blurry due to there being two world titles, though the “super” champion is regarded as the primary beltholder.

The WBA has further developed a reputation for not handing out enough opportunities for WBA “regular” champions to face “super” champions, with former super middleweight (168 lbs) contender David Morrell (11-1, 9 KO’s) having been stuck with his “regular” title for years without ever actually fighting for the “super” belt―which is currently still held by Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KO’s) since 2020. Morrell attained the title in 2021, but after roughly three years of not gaining an opportunity he moved up to the light-heavyweight (175 lbs) division.

Further marring the WBA’s decision is Ryan Garcia’s own reputation in boxing for his performance-enhancing drug (PED) offenses, which continues to be downplayed by all the relevant institutions in boxing including General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman and The Ring owner Turki Alalshikh.

Rolando “Rolly” Romero is also an peculiar choice given he had already fought for the WBA world title―without the “regular” and “super” distinctions―and lost it following a stoppage loss to Isaac Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KO’s) last year in March. Romero would subsequently record an easy unanimous decision (UD) victory on the September Alvarez-Berlanga undercard against non-ranked American contender Manuel Jaimes (16-2-1, 11 KO’s) in a fight at super lightweight (140 lbs).

Neither Garcia or Romero have fought at welterweight yet as they are set to move up from the 140-pound division where they both last fought, marking the WBA’s decision as one defined by publicity and the notoriety of both fighters rather than a genuine interest to promote competitiveness.

Presumably, Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KO’s), the current holder of the WBA welterweight world title, will be promoted to WBA “super” champion as he is set to unify his belt against American IBF 147-pound champion Jaron Ennis (33-0, 29 KO’s) come April 12.

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