Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz said he set out to “terminate” Rolly Romero tonight, and in the end, he completely dominated en route to an eighth round TKO win to claim the WBA super lightweight title.
Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KO) had Romero hurt badly in the opening round, and Rolly was just unable to do much of anything with him in the entire fight. Even the punches that the heavy-handed Romero landed seemed to have no effect on “Pitbull,” who hurt Romero repeatedly.
After a truly one-sided seventh round where Romero was on skates repeatedly, the doctor told referee Thomas Taylor that it was getting close to time for a stoppage. In the eighth, when Romero got hurt again, Taylor stepped in.
The official time of the TKO was 0:56 of round eight.
For the 25-year-old Cruz, it’s his first world title, in what was also his first fight in the 140 lb division. The crowd in Las Vegas was loudly and heavily backing the Mexican warrior, who said he wants to face the top names at 140, which could be tough given that none of them are with Premier Boxing Champions at the moment, though that could change.
For Romero, this was a second clear indicator that he is simply miles off of the level of the sport’s true top fighters, and you really have to wonder what he does next. He does get attention easily and can draw interest, but the in-ring skill set just is not there at the upper levels of the sport.
CompuBox had Cruz landing 129 of 354 (36%) total punches, and 121 of 319 (38%) power shots. Romero was tallied at 85 of 341 (25%) total, and 71 of 187 (38%) on power punches.