Rolly Romero Calls Out Pacquiao & Benavidez: Boxing Circus?

Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero is sounding desperate this week, calling out 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao and light heavyweight champion David Benavidez for his next fight. The newly crowned WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) said on social media that he wants “no other fight” but against Pacquiao or Benavidez.

Worse Than Canelo-Crawford?

The idea of Romero fighting WBC and WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is absurd. It would be a circus fight, even worse than Canelo Alvarez’s scheduled clash against Terence Crawford.

It’s another reason boxing needs a governing body to prevent the sport from becoming a secondary clown sport with no rules, anarchy, and pure chaos. Predictably, there would be a lot of angry fans seeing Benavidez destroy the hapless Rolly in one round on PPV. It would hurt boxing more than the exhibition-like match between Canelo and Crawford, which is a classic example of a money-grab with no purpose.

“Me and Pacquiao or me and Benavidez. I don’t want no other fight now,” said Rolly Romero on social media, letting his followers know that he wants to face Manny Pacquiao or light heavyweight champion David Benavidez next.

Understandably, fans are ridiculing Rolly (17-2, 13 KOs), labeling his callouts as attention-seeking, clout-chasing moves to get fans to notice him following his upset win against Ryan Garcia on May 2nd.

Even at 46, Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) would likely embarrass Romero just like the aged warrior Ismael Barroso had done in their fight in 2023 before the referee saved him.

Romero Ducks WBA Killers

What Rolly, 29, should be doing is focusing on defending his secondary WBA 147-lb belt against one of the top contenders in the rankings, such as #1 Shakhram Giyasov. He’s waiting in line for his title shot with the WBA, and he’d likely jump at the chance to rip the ‘regular’ strap away from Romero.

Rolly appears to be trying to cash out after his upset win over a passive, disengaged Ryan Garcia at Turki Alashikh’s Times Square event on May 2nd. Ryan has shown no interest in fighting a rematch with Romero, and his self-confidence appears to be at an all-time low. Romero doesn’t seem eager to defend his WBA strap against any of the killers, many of them not well known, but good enough to potentially beat him. #1 WBA Giyasov would be a nightmare for Rolly.