Manny Pacquiao drew with Mario Barrios last time out, but could face a highly controversial champion next.
Manny Pacquiao has fought twice since 2019, losing his first comeback to Yordenis Ugas, and drawing in his latest against Mario Barrios, despite public opinion suggesting Pacquiao did enough to win the fight.
Still winless since he defeated Keith Thurman, Pacquiao still has his sights set on a world title, and must now find another route to achieve this.
With Jaron Ennis vacating his belts and moving up in weight, one controversial champion has been elevated outside of the ring to full world champion, giving Pacquiao another target to hone in on.
That man is Rolando Romero.
Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty ImagesManny Pacquiao could face Rolly Romero years on from awful KO over Ismael Barroso
Pacquiao’s legendary status continues to live on as even as he approaches his late forties, he is still able to hang with world champions in the ring.
Pacquiao has insisted he has more left to give in boxing, and hopes to fight again, with Jeff Mayweather suggesting Pacquiao should fight Romero.
Pacquiao’s longtime sparring partner, Rashad Holloway, claims Pacquiao would bulldoze Romero, and even Shane Mosley suggested Pacquiao would beat Romero on FightHubTV.
Romero is 17-2, having lost to Isaac Cruz and Gervonta Davis, but became the WBA super-lightweight champion in 2023 after an extremely controversial fight.
Following his loss to Tank, Romero faced 24-3-2 Ismael Barroso, who was 40 years old at the time.
After eight rounds, Barroso was up on every single scorecard against the younger man, but the ninth round saw a ludicrous stoppage after Romero launched a flurry of punches, most of which failed to connect or did no damage.
The referee waved off the fight, baffling the audience, pundits, and fighters. It remains a highly dubious finish and a stain on Romero’s career, despite the title win.
Rolly Romero dismantled a fan-favorite in his latest fight
Though the Barroso fight was controversial, and Romero has lost in two of his three big step-up fights, his latest outing showed his talent and power-punching capability, as he handed Ryan Garcia his second career defeat.
Romero faced Garcia on The Ring’s card hosted in Times Square, and was intended to set up a rematch between Garcia and Devin Haney, who faced Jose Ramirez on the same card.
Garcia had beaten Haney in their first encounter, but the fight was ruled a no-contest after Garcia was found to have PEDs in his system.
Haney fulfilled his side of the deal, defeating Ramirez, but Garcia could not get past Romero.
Haney will now face Brian Norman Jr. on The Ring’s November 22nd card, which could also feature Artur Beterbiev vs Najee Lopez, and other big fights.