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Rolly Romero stopped Ismael Barroso in extremely controversial circumstances in their world title fight over the weekend.
The pair clashed for the vacant WBA super lightweight world title and the referee stepped in to call a halt to the contest in round nine.
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Romero did manage to put Barroso down in round nine, but the stoppage came far too earlyCredit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME
Romero found himself on the canvas for only the second time of his career in the first round of the fight.
But, he recovered well and scored a knockdown of his own in the ninth round before a highly controversial ending.
As Romero and Barroso traded punches in the corner of the ring, with the Venezuelan still swinging, referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the contest, which was considered very premature.
To make matters worse, at the time of the stoppage, all three judges had Barroso winning on their scorecards.
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Referee Tony Weeks has been called into question following the controversyCredit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME
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Especially considering Barroso was winning on all three judges’ scorecardsCredit: Twitter: @espnringside
“F***ing embarrassing,” commented IBF bantamweight world champion Sunny Edwards on Twitter.
“Fight should be turned to a no contest, the belt made vacant and the referee pulled in front of the board.
“That’s as bad as boxing can look, if I was Rolly I’d vacate.”
Renowned boxing journalist, Rob Tebbutt, described it as “The worst stoppage of all time.”
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Meanwhile, talkSPORT’s Ade Oladipo added: “Tony Weeks is a DISGRACE for stopping that.
“Real questions need to be asked. What the hell is going on? the worst stoppage I can remember in recent times.”
As Tony Bellew replied: “Usually a good referee Weeks!! Shocker this.”
After the fight Romero immediately called out Ryan Garcia, who recently announced he would be moving into the super lightweight division after his loss to Gervonta Davis.
This created a lot of hype, with Garcia being a big name in boxing, but promoter Lou DiBella does not want the focus to shift from the poor refereeing in Romero’s most recent fight.
“Hate how boxing adjusts in hours to accepting its institutionalised. destructive, systemic f***ery,” DiBella said on Twitter.
“Justified indignation over last night has dissipated and been replaced by calls for the “PPV world title fight” between Rolly and Ryan Garcia. Smh. Why nothing will get better.”
It seems, however, that Romero may not get the opportunity to fight Garcia next, as WBA mandatory challenger, Ohara Davies, has threatened legal action if he is not called to fight the champion next.
Source: TalkSport | Read More
