Rolando “Rolly” Romero struts around with his WBA lightweight title as proud as ever. But while he's buoyant that it’s in his possession, most are convinced that it shouldn’t be.

After getting brutally stopped at the hands of Gervonta Davis, Romero took a year off. He didn’t simply sit back and enjoy the gigantic payday, well he did, but that wasn’t the only thing Romero was doing.

Making 135 pounds was no longer fun. Romero blames an arduous weight cut for his shortcomings against Davis and decided that a move to 140 pounds is in his best interest. In his debut, the WBA sanctioning body allowed him to fight for their vacant crown. Standing on the other side of the ring was the seemingly ancient Ismael Barroso.

Romero didn’t care that Barroso was a knockout artist, he was confident that he would steamroll the old veteran and move on to bigger and better things. Although things ultimately played out that way, there’s a foggy haze of controversy surrounding the outcome.

Barroso was sharp. He dropped Romero in the first few rounds and was in complete control. In the ninth, Romero began his comeback. During the frame, an innocuous barrage of punches forced Tony Weeks to step in and wave things off. At first glance, the call seemed erroneous. After taking a look at the replay, that notion was accentuated.

Barroso didn’t appear to be in any trouble as most of Romero’s punches hit nothing but air. While he may have wanted an immediate rematch, Barroso was asked to take on Ohara Davies instead. Viewed as an underdog once again, Barroso took out all of his frustrations on Davies, stopping him in the opening round.

Romero stood on his feet and applauded from his ringside seat. But, when asked if he would be willing to give Barroso another shot against him, he was noncommittal.

“We shall see," Romero told several reporters. "We shall see.”

Of course, Romero is the target of a high-profile showdown with Ryan Garcia, who openly called for the two of them to fight in the coming months.