Rolando Romero scored a technical knockout over Ismael Barroso this weekend to capture the World Boxing Association (WBA) super lightweight belt at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

“Rolly” survived a knockdown in the third round but in the end was able to pull out a hard-fought victory over an opponent who made it difficult for him throughout the fight. The referee stopped the action in a decision that has caused controversy and debate in the boxing world. 

Romero and Barroso had a very cautious start to the fight. While “Rolly” was walking the ring and looking for a way to make his opponent look bad, Barroso was looking for him and trying to connect with him but taking care of the counter attack. 

It was in the third round when the Venezuelan was able to connect a punch to Romero’s face and sent him to the canvas to cause a furor in the arena and put the fight in an interesting direction. 

The Cuban-born American kept his cool and was recovering even though he was down on all the judges’ scorecards when the stoppage occurred. A combination from Romero sent Barroso to the canvas in that ninth round and then they got into a fierce exchange in which both were connecting but Barroso looked more tired. In the end, referee Weeks decided to step in and end the fight in Romero’s favor. 

It was the 15th career win for “Rolly”, who has 13 knockouts and 1 loss. Barroso left his record at 24 wins, 4 losses, 2 draws and 22 knockouts.