“You got to have two heavy punchers, Brian Norman and Rolando Romero. And then you got to run it back versus Devin,” said Norman Jr. to Brian Custer’s channel.
Rolly is coming off that May 2025 win over Ryan Garcia, and he’s spent the last 11 months chasing legacy paydays. For Rolly, boxing is as much about the entertainment value and the check as it is about the belts.
Norman Jr. (28-1) is a high-risk, mid-reward opponent. He’s a live dog with serious power who is now being refined by Ronnie Shields. For Rolly, losing to Norman doesn’t have the same “cushion” as losing to a legend like Pacquiao or a superstar like Haney.
With the WBA bringing back the regular title for the Giyasov-Catterall winner, Rolly has successfully bought himself more time. He can claim he’s cleaning up the division while actually just waiting for a Saudi-backed offer or a massive PPV slot.
Without Turki Alalshikh or a similar entity putting up a massive purse, Rolly has very little incentive to step in with a hungry, newly disciplined Norman Jr. He’d much rather wait for the Haney fight to materialize, even if it means more inactivity.
Norman is clearly trying to use the “two heavy punchers” narrative to bait Rolly into a fan-friendly brawl. By moving to trainer Ronnie Shields, Norman is trying to show he’s no longer just a wild puncher but a calculated one.
“He pulled me to the side and told me, ‘All that you doing, don’t do that no more.’ Now it’s more about making everything count,” said Norman Jr.
This change makes Norman even more dangerous for someone like Rolly, who thrives on opponents making mistakes. If Norman stops fighting with emotion as he did against Haney, he becomes a much tougher puzzle to solve.
Rolly will likely continue to shop for the biggest name possible. If the Haney fight or a Pacquiao exhibition doesn’t land by summer, he might look at a “name” veteran who is past his prime rather than a 25-year-old powerhouse like Norman.
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