Shakhram Giyasov believes that Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero has avoided a fight with him for the past seven months after the WBA ordered the welterweight title fight in October.
Instead of continuing to wait for Romero, Giyasov will fight Jack Catterall this Saturday, May 23, in Egypt for the WBA ‘ordinary’ welterweight belt. Romero has not fought since defeating Ryan Garcia to capture the WBA welterweight title last year, and never moved forward with the scheduled defense against Giyasov.
“Who is that? I don’t know him,” Giyasov told The Ring when asked about Rolly.
“If you win on Saturday, do you think he still won’t want to fight you?” an interviewer told Giyasov.
“I don’t know. I think he’s afraid of me,” Giyasov said.
The undefeated Uzbek contender has steadily climbed the rankings for years, but has struggled to secure marquee fights at 147. His fight with Catterall gives him a chance to finally leave the mandatory position behind and pick up a secondary version of the WBA title.
Catterall moved up to welterweight earlier this year after competing at 140 pounds for most of his career. The fight is part of Saturday’s card in Cairo headlined by Oleksandr Usyk against Rico Verhoeven.
The winner of Giyasov-Catterall could move closer to a future clash with Romero if the WBA eventually push for the titles to be consolidated.
“I think he’s afraid of me!” 👀
Shakhram Giyasov, who fights for the WBA ‘ordinary’ belt this Saturday, believes WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero is ducking him ❗️
Glory in Giza | 23 May | LIVE on DAZN 🥊 pic.twitter.com/fMwHZNpomd
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) May 21, 2026
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Last updated on 2026/05/21 at 12:12
