Two days after news broke that Rolando Romero would “likely” be pulled from his December 5th fight with Gervonta Davis due to numerous accusations of sexual assault, a Showtime spokesman has officially confirmed “Rolly’s” exit. Mike Coppinger reports that IBF #2 contender Isaac Cruz has agreed to step in, though nothing has yet been announced.
This is honestly about as good a replacement as you could find on a month’s notice. “Pitbull” (22-1-1, 15 KO) was already in line for a shot at Teofimo Lopez and boasts the grit, aggression, and willingness to get egregiously dirty that Davis (25-0, 24 KO) has yet to encounter in his pro career. His 53-second annihilation of Diego Magdaleno and arguably disqualification-worthy performance against Francisco Vargas are testament to that.
Not saying that the mega-punching Davis shouldn’t be a comfortable favorite, just that Cruz is a hell of a lot more interesting than your average late-notice replacement, even if the fight does lack the deeply personal flavor of the original matchup. I’m down to watch two vicious little buggers go at it.