NEW YORK – Rolando Romero even offered investment advice during a wide-ranging interview with a group of reporters prior to a press conference Thursday in Brooklyn.

Romero ripped Gervonta Davis for his tardiness before he held court to discuss their 12-round, 135-pound title fight Saturday night at nearby Barclays Center. The wide odds on their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event was among the topics the provocative Romero was asked about while he waited for the heavily favored Davis to arrive at a ballroom inside a Marriott near the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Dude, everyone’s f------ betting on me, man,” Romero said. “And you guys, I want everybody to go to circus board, take a f------- loan out, go f------- bet everything on me, because I’m gonna make everybody in this f------- room rich if they bet on me. Everyone who bet on me, everyone who support me gonna get f------- rich.”

Odds on their grudge match have tightened in recent days because bettors have wagered on the hard-hitting Romero (14-0, 12 KOs).

By Thursday night, Caesars Sportsbook listed Davis as an 8-1 favorite, down from 10-1 the previous night. Competitors DraftKings (10-1) and FanDuel (11-1) offered Davis as a wider favorite Thursday night.

Comparatively, Davis opened as a 12-1 favorite versus Isaac Cruz and closed as more than a 9-1 favorite against the Mexican contender who replaced Romero in their December 5 fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The rugged Cruz (23-2-1, 16 KOs) gave Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) the most difficult fight of his career, but he lost a unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113). Davis’ aggressive, shorter opponent took his power well, made him go 12 rounds for the first time in his nine-year pro career and ended Davis’ 16-fight knockout streak.

Cruz replaced Romero on five weeks’ notice because a woman with whom Romero was once acquainted accused him of sexual assault at some point in the fall of 2019. Detectives for the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department closed that case without filing charges against Romero, which allowed for his fight versus Davis to be rescheduled.

Romero, 26, is a big underdog entering this bout in part because he has fought a relatively low level of opposition and hasn’t beaten a ranked lightweight who had more than eight knockouts on his record. Davis, 27, has drawn criticism for not facing elite lightweights, but the Baltimore native is 10-0 in title fights, including nine knockouts, and is commonly considered one of the most explosive punchers in boxing.

North Las Vegas’ Romero repeatedly has predicted that he’ll knock out Davis during the first round of a bout that’ll headline a four-fight pay-per-view event (9 p.m. ET; $74.99).

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