Finally, Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero seems to have found his mojo. The former light welterweight champion stepped into the ring for the second time in the year. He faced Manuel Jaimes on the Canelo Alvarez – Edgar Berlanga undercard at the T Mobile Arena. The fight follows his upset defeat at the hands of Isaac Cruz on the March 30 PBC-Amazon Prime inaugural show.

Recovering from the setback that led to several questions being raised over his future in boxing, Romero defeated his rival by a unanimous decision. As it always happens, a win often tends to open doors when others get slammed shut. So sensing an opportunity to reinvigorate his career, ‘Rolly’ appears to have called out Liam Paro. The new boogeyman of the 140-pound division, the Australian champion, made it big when he inflicted a surprise defeat on Subriel Matias in front of the latter’s home crowd. Per the exchanges that have taken place, it seems the Queensland native is quite happy to go ahead with the matchup.

Rolando Romero: The fighter’s resurgence

“@SignUp4KOs, good win; heard you dropping my name… Just wanna say ANYDAY 😎 get in contact,” tweeted Liam Paro. The ten-round bout between ‘Rolly’ Romero and the San Jose-born Jaimes was largely a give-and-take affair, with both fighters waiting for the other to initiate an attack.

But, as rounds progressed, it became clear who controlled the reigns of the fight. Resorting to his trademark aggressive approach, Rolando Romero gradually started unleashing his famous power shots. Nevertheless, neither side managed to inflict any damage that could have stopped the fight.

In the end, scoring 99-91, all three judges delivered a unanimous decision favoring Romero. The win has provided the Las Vegas-born fighter some ammunition to shut down naysayers who felt his career was close to being over. Speaking about the fight, Romero said, “I needed a tough 10-round fight against someone hungry, and that’s what I got tonight. I was doing a lot of stuff tonight that I should have done in my earlier fights.”

According to him, even though Manuel Jaimes advanced, he felt that he could control the fight to his advantage. Ultimately, after he led the adversary to the battlefield where he wanted to fight, he found opportunities galore to land effective body shots.

Liam Paro vs. Rolando Romero: The division is up for grabs

Rolando Romero claimed that the triumph has given him the much-needed breather to target a title fight next. “I have my eye on any of the champions,” said Romero. Now who all is there in the 140 pounds? There is Teofimo Lopez, Jose Valenzuela, and of course Liam Paro. Devin Haney is currently a ‘champion in recess’. Then Alberto Puello and Andy Hiraoka are interim title holders.

But there’s a catch. Lopez seems to be eyeing a big payday with Gervonta Davis. Then ‘El Rayo’ has opted for a downtime, planning to return by 2025. Thus, it leaves Paro as the most viable option. The 28-year-old Southpaw remains unbeaten. He raised quite a few eyebrows when he took the powerful Subriel Matias the whole distance on June 15. Considering the fact that he is promoted by Eddie Hearn‘s Matchroom Boxing, which works with Devin Haney as well, talks of an imminent matchup surfaced. However, per the latest available reports, the chances of the fight happening appear highly unlikely.

Thus, a Rolando Romero-Liam Paro line-up could make for an exciting thriller.

What is your take? Do you think Rolando Romero is ready to take on the giant slayer Liam Paro, or should he proceed with a few more tune-up fights before taking a shot at a title?