Rolando Romero’s journey to Saturday's WBA interim lightweight title opportunity has been a difficult one. An American of Cuban origin, Romero will fight Jackson Mariñez of the Dominican Republic this Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, a fight achieved after a series of events that began even before his birth. Romero, who is undefeated but has only eleven professional fights, spoke about his life, his father’s efforts in Cuba to reach the United States, and his own difficult moments.

 

His father, Rolando Romero Sr., was a boxer and won the national [amateur] title in Cuba three times according to the WBA and Fansided.com. However, the father's dream to become a professional boxer was blocked by the communist political situation in his country and, in 1991, he tried to escape the island, but his plan failed.

 

“My father first tried to escape when he was 27. He was arrested and put in prison for two years. He was fed only one spoonful of rice, and in the evenings, a glass of water with sugar. He was fed like that for a whole month and spent two years in prison”, Romero told Fansided.

 

Romero inherited his persistence and constancy from his father, who is now his trainer. Those two years in prison served his father as motivation to swim out to Guantanamo Bay in 1993, and although a close friend who was accompanying him drowned, he was able to reach it and finally be transferred to Miami.

 

If it were not for that fact, “Rolly”, who was born two years later (1995) on American soil, wouldn’t have reached the position he finds himself in today.

 

Although the first sport he trained for was judo, Romero says he was inspired to box by a desire to go to the Olympics.  Here is what Romero had to say at this week's final press conference before his Showtime-televised bout:

 

ROLANDO ROMERO:

“This is a big opportunity for me. This is a way for me to show that I belong in there against the top fighters in the division. I’ve sparred with all of them before, but this will show I’m ready to face any of them in a real fight. I’m not worried about going twelve rounds for the first time. I’m not trying to let it go twelve, but I’m prepared from sparring fifteen rounds at a time in camp. It’s not going to be hard to have more left in the tank in the later rounds.

“[My promoter] Floyd Mayweather taking time to work with me in camp says a lot about him. He’s got a lot of other things he could be doing, so it’s already a blessing. He always tells me to work my jab and focus on my boxing ability. We’ve worked a lot together in camp for this fight. When I signed with Floyd. I asked him what I should work on and he told me to work on my jab. About four or five fights in I started to really use that advice and it’s the best advice that he could have given me.

“I’ve never relied on just my power. I use my skill set and when I land a punch, the power is what floors them. I’m just a heavy-handed fighter. I’ve been asking for tough fights like this and to step up against the better competition. If it turns out it was too soon, then it’s only because I asked for it. But that’s not happening. I’m going to end up on top. I don’t think his experience is going to be a problem for me. My boxing ability and power is going to be way too much for him. I don’t think he’ll be able to do anything to me. I think I’m going to win with an early round knockout. It’s going to be a really bad knockout.

“I think I’m the best in the world, but that’s just me. I think I’d stop every single fighter at 135 pounds. “I’m already defined as a puncher, but I’ve yet to really show my boxing ability. That’s only because I haven’t needed to yet. As I get into tougher and tougher fights I think I’m going to blow through the 135-pound division. When I move up to 140 and 147 pounds, I’ll be ready to show my boxing ability more. I started this sport at 17 and I’m 24 now. I feel like I have nothing but room to grow.”