Rolando Romero

Romero made his professional debut on December 2, 2016, scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory against David Courtney at the Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Sunrise Manor, Nevada.[2]

After compiling a record of 11–0 (10 KOs) Romero faced undefeated Dominican Jackson Marinez for the vacant WBA interim lightweight title on August 15, 2020, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Romero captured the vacant WBA interim title via twelve-round unanimous decision (UD) with the judges' scorecards reading 118–110, 116–112, and 115–113. This decision was considered very controversial, with many feeling Marinez deserved the win.[3][4][5]

Romero was scheduled to take on Justin Pauldo, but Pauldo came in 5Ibs over the contracted weight. Romero's team would then change the weight to 140 Ibs, but Pauldo failed a pre-fight physical with the commission having to cancel it. Romero fought Avery Sparrow as a last minute opponent, the latter having had five weeks of training prior to this fight. Romero defeated his opponent by seventh-round technical knockout, and aired his frustrations with Sparrow's fighting style after the fight: "He fought like a coward, he just wanted a street fight because he knew he wasn’t gonna do anything to me."[6]

Romero was slated to defend his interim title against Austin Dulay on the undercard of Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castaño on July 17, 2021. Dulay pulled out of the fight a few days before the scheduled date which prompted Romero to claim that Dulay had pulled out of the fight due to a “panic attack.” Dulay responded by revealing that he suffered a knee injury and offered to give Romero $10,000 of his fight purse to reschedule the fight.[7]

Anthony Yigit was subsequently moved from his untelevised preliminary slot to step in as Romero's opponent.[8] Romero's title was no longer on the line when Yigit weighed in 5.2 lbs over the 135 lb limit, but the fight nonetheless went ahead. On the night, Romero dropped Yigit multiple times en route to a seventh-round technical knockout victory.[9] The San Antonio crowd booed Romero as he was announced as the winner, voicing their displeasure with his roughhouse tactics of throwing elbows, shoving and grappling his opponent. He was unfazed when questioned about it in his post-fight interview, saying, "I fought a 140 pounder and I fucking stopped him, simple as that."[10]

On October 6, 2021, it was announced that Romero would be facing undefeated WBA (Regular) lightweight champion Gervonta Davis on December 5 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Showtime PPV.[11] However, Romero was pulled from the bout due to sexual assault allegations made against him, and was subsequently replaced with Isaac Cruz.[12]