Rolando Romero was hoping for a breakout performance against Jackson Marinez on the David Benavidez-Roamer Alexis Angulo card Saturday in Uncasville, Conn. Instead, he left the Mohegan Sun with a controversial victory.
Marinez seemed to outbox – and arguably outwork — Romero yet lost a unanimous decision and a chance to win the WBA “interim” lightweight title, 116-112 (Glenn Feldman), 118-110 (Frank Lombardi) and 115-113 (Don Trella). Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112 for Marinez.
CompuBox had Marinez outlanding Romero 103-86.
Romero (12-0, 10 KOs) said afterward that he was the aggressor and landed the bigger punches, which might’ve been what the judges saw. However, Marinez (19-1, 7 KOs) doesn’t buy that.
“That was pure robbery,” he said. “I won the fight. I out-jabbed, out-boxed him. You could tell he didn’t think he won the fight right afterwards. It’s a robbery.”
Robert Garcia, Marinez’s trainer, wasn’t there. He watched on TV from home in Southern California because he tested positive for COVID-19 last month and didn’t want to take any chances. He was stunned when he heard the scores.
“Everybody thinks it was a bad decision,” Garcia told Boxing Junkie on Sunday. “I’ve been getting calls all day, from matchmakers, from promoters who have nothing to do with Marinez. I hope the WBA does something about it. It’s just ridiculous.
“The kid (Marinez) is a hard-working kid. To take his interim title that way was wrong. The fight wasn’t even close. Romero won three, maybe four rounds if you’re generous.”
Garcia said that Marinez was 100 percent prepared for the fight after sparring with Vergil Ortiz and Jose Ramirez and holding his own at Garcia’s gym in Riverside, Calif. And, Garcia said, he followed the game plan.
The Dominican fought behind his jab, threw combinations and moved well to avoid Romero’s power punches.
“Romero was lost after a few rounds,” Garcia said. “You could tell they were concerned. He didn’t’ give up, he’s a fighter, but you could see they were concerned.”
Rematch? “That,” Garcia said, “would be nice.”
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