Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero says Turki Alalshikh should “stop endorsing” the runners for his Riyadh Season events if he doesn’t wish to support fighters who don’t engage.
Turki’s Fighter Choices Questioned
WBC lightweight champion Shakur stood in the pocket for his last fight against William Zepeda on July 12th, almost got dropped, hit 300+ times, and absorbed more punishment than he ever had in his pro or amateur career.
Turki could easily select fighters with only entertaining fighting styles, and events would be like classic fighting from the 1960s. Interestingly, many of the exciting fighters from the 135, 140, 154, 160, and 168-lb weight classes aren’t invited to Turki’s events. Instead, he chooses these fighters who are known for their hit-and-don’t-get-hit styles:
Devin Haney
Terence Crawford
Shakur Stevenson
Dmitry Bivol
The only reason Shakur wasn’t knocked out is that Zepeda isn’t a huge puncher. If that had been Floyd Schofield, Abdullah Mason, Raymond Muratalla, or Jadier Herrera, Stevenson would have been stopped.
“He can say he wants fighters to exchange more, which is what I would like and everyone would like, right? But the thing is, you want fighters to exchange more, so stop endorsing fighters that don’t exchange,” said Rolly Romero to Boxing King Media, sending a message to Turki Alalshikh. “Common sense on that one, no?
Riyadh Season’s Boring Boxers
Turki chooses fighters like Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney, pure Jerry-like boxers, and then expects them to change their fighting styles to become something they’ve never been. It appears that he selects fighters based on their personality; sometimes, the ones that are seen as villains by fans due to their boring fighting styles and arrogant attitudes.
Then, he’s unhappy when they turn in boring performances, which is crazy. He should know that’s all they’re capable of doing. They use that ugly Mayweather throwback style from the 1990s, which the boxing public can’t relate to.
“You got to have people that actually want to stop their opponent. Not tough people until they get their next paycheck,” said Romero.
