Sources: Romero to challenge Puello for WBA title

Rolando Romero will challenge Alberto Puello for the WBA junior lightweight title in the spring in a PBC bout, sources told ESPN.

Romero (14-1, 12 KOs) will move up to 140 pounds for his first career title shot. In his most recent fight, Romero was stopped by Gervonta Davis in the sixth round of a 135-pound bout. The May event was staged at a sold-out crowd in Brooklyn and headlined a Showtime pay-per-view, increasing Romero’s profile in the defeat.

Romero’s best win came in July 2021, a seventh-round TKO of former title challenger Anthony Yigit. The 27-year-old trash-talker from Las Vegas is a damaging puncher who delivers his shots from awkward angles.

Puello (21-0, 10 KOs), on the other hand, is a southpaw counter-puncher. The 28-year-old Dominican won the vacant 140-pound belt with a split-decision victory over Batyr Akhmedov in August.

BoxingScene first reported the news.