NEW YORK – Rolando Romero lost by knockout, but he is convinced he had shut out Gervonta Davis before his rival drilled him with the counter left hand that emphatically ended their fight early Sunday morning. (photo by Ryan Hafey)

Romero claimed during their post-fight press conference that he was on his way to winning a sixth straight round when he “jumped into” the shot that knocked him out at a sold-out Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Davis’ rival criticized him for “running like a bitch” and contended that Davis was “terrified” of his power before he rocked Romero with a punch that knocked him into the ropes, face first, and then to the canvas.

Referee David Fields stopped their 12-round, 135-pound title fight at 2:49 of the sixth round because a disoriented Romero responded insufficiently to his commands once he reached his feet. Romero was as defiant as ever, though, while discussing what transpired prior to Davis dropping him.

“I won all six rounds,” Romero said. “I won every moment of that fight. I exposed him and we need to run that sh*t back.”

Davis dismissed Romero’s request for an immediate rematch. The powerful southpaw from Baltimore acknowledged Romero’s strength, but Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) revealed that his plan was to wear down the rugged Romero by making his opponent pursue him and then take him out.

Davis’ destructive punch connected as Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) lunged forward and attempted to land a right hand while Davis was backed against the ropes.

The judges and CompuBox statistics indicated their fight was very competitive prior to the knockout.

Judges Ron McNair (49-46) and Robin Taylor (48-47) had Davis ahead after five rounds, but judge Kevin Morgan scored three of those rounds for Romero (48-47). CompuBox credited Davis for a slight edge in overall punches landed as well (25-of-84 to 22-of-115).

“I want Gervonta Davis again,” Romero said. “I exposed his ass, and everybody in this room knows it. I got caught with a good shot. That’s all.”

Romero promised a first-round knockout throughout the over-the-top promotion of their rescheduled fight for Davis’ secondary WBA lightweight title. The North Las Vegas native landed a right hand several seconds before the first round ended, but Romero otherwise took a mostly measured approach against an opponent who proved to be every bit as dangerous as his 92-percent knockout ratio indicated.

“If I could’ve got a first-round knockout, I would’ve done it,” Romero said. “You know? But I know he’s expecting a first-round knockout. So, I wasn’t able to get the first-round knockout, so I was tactical throughout the entire fight.”

Romero’s trainer, Cromwell Gordon, is certain that his fighter disproved critics that contended he was nothing more than a reckless power puncher prior to testing Davis.

“I feel like he did a great performance,” Gordon said. “I know that Rolly could out-box pretty much 90 percent of the fighters in boxing. Even though people always talk about his power, Rolly’s a very talented fighter and he showed that tonight against a three-division world champion. He whupped his ass round after round. When he hurt him, Tank did the smart thing and he held, and um, the ref let him get away with it. But it was a great performance.

“Mistakes were made in the game. The best of the best – Ali, Mike Tyson, every last one of ‘em – took a ‘L.’ You understand what I’m saying? So, at the end of the day, I’m very proud of my fighter and I would never turn him in for nobody else. Straight up.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.