“You have to have two heavy hitters, Brian Norman and Rolando Romero. And then you have to run it back against Devin,” Norman Jr. said. said 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 is a lively dog ​​with serious power now refined by Ronnie Shields. For Rolly, losing to Norman did not have the same “cushion” as losing to a legend like Pacquiao or a superstar like Haney.
With the WBA returning the regular title to the Giyasov-Catterall winner, Rolly successfully bought himself more time. He can claim to be cleaning up the division when really he’s just waiting for a Saudi-backed offer or a massive PPV slot.
Without Turki Alalshikh or some similar entity putting up a massive purse, Rolly has very little incentive to step in with a hungry, newly disciplined Norman Jr. He would 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 lure Rolly into a fan-friendly brawl. By moving to trainer Ronnie Shields, Norman tries to show that he is no longer just a wild puncher, but a calculated one.
“He pulled me aside and told me: ‘Whatever you’re doing, don’t do it anymore.’ Now it’s more about making everything count,” Norman Jr. said.
This change makes Norman even more dangerous for someone like Rolly, who thrives on opponents making mistakes. If Norman stops fighting with emotion like he did against Haney, he becomes a much more difficult puzzle to solve.
Rolly will likely continue shopping for the biggest name possible. If the Haney fight or a Pacquiao exhibition doesn’t land by the summer, he might be looking at a “name” veteran past his prime, rather than a 25-year-old powerhouse like Norman.
