Ismael Barroso Robbed of Junior Welterweight Title in Controversial Loss to Rolando Romero

The 40-year-old Venezuelan missed out on a massive upset—and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars—all because of the referee’s hasty decision.

A robbery took place in Las Vegas on Saturday. A 40-year old man, Ismael Barroso, was deprived of hundreds of thousands of dollars in future income and perhaps the right to call himself a world champion. In front of a few thousand fans at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Barroso had a nearly two-decade long dream ripped away from him.

And there’s likely nothing he can do about it.

To recap: On Saturday, Barroso and Rolando Romero met for a vacant 140-pound title. Barroso, a late replacement for Alberto Puello, who was stripped of his belt after testing positive for a banned substance weeks before the fight, was given little chance. Oddsmakers established Romero as high as a 10–1 favorite. Barroso, who looks all of his 40 years (and then some), was lampooned on social media for his grandfatherly appearance.

The fight, though, was competitive. Romero, in his first fight since a knockout loss to Gervonta Davis last June, looked tentative. Barroso knocked Romero down in the third round with a stinging, straight left. He continued to pepper Romero with lefts through the middle rounds. Entering the ninth, Barroso led on all three judges scorecards. CompuBox had Barroso outlanding Romero in six of the first eight.

In the ninth, Romero clipped Barroso with a short left hook. With Barroso wobbling, Romero appeared to shove Barroso to the canvas. Referee Tony Weeks, who seemed to miss the push, ruled it a knockdown. Minutes later, with Romero swinging wildly, Weeks stepped in to stop the fight.

“What the … “ exclaimed Showtime broadcaster Al Bernstein.

“That was bad,” added Abner Mares.

Barroso (right) was a late replacement for Alberto Puello and nearly pulled off a massive upset / AP

Bad? Watching Rances Barthelemy get awarded a strangely wide decision on the undercard was bad. This was horrific. Barroso wasn’t hurt. He was still punching. And with how wildly Romero was swinging, Barroso, with 22 of his 24 wins coming by knockout, had a chance to counter. Weeks stepped in and took that away from him.

Why? When asked by Showtime’s Jim Gray, Weeks refused to comment. No one from the Nevada commission stepped up, either. A controversial decision in a major world title fight and the people responsible ducked for cover.

“It was an injustice to stop this fight,” said Barroso. “I was [landing] the big shots.”

Barroso will appeal the decision. But those appeals generally go nowhere. It’s unlikely the commission will overturn Weeks’s ruling, as bad as it was. Romero, to his credit, said he believed the fight should have continued. The WBA, which sanctioned the fight for its junior welterweight title, could order an immediate rematch, but there are no guarantees one will be put together. And even if it is, Barroso may not be able to duplicate that type of performance.

Barroso will go down as another victim of incompetence, thrown on a pile that never stops growing. A career that began in 2005, a path that took him through club shows in Venezuela, small cards in Panama and higher profile ones in the U.K. and the U.S. should have culminated with a world title around his waist in Las Vegas. He will have the respect of a should-be world champion. But none of the rewards that come with it.