Shakhram Giyasov believes Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero has spent the last seven months avoiding a fight with him after the WBA ordered the welterweight title bout in October.
Instead of continuing to wait on Romero, Giyasov will fight Jack Catterall for the WBA ‘regular’ welterweight belt this Saturday, May 23, in Egypt. Romero has not fought since defeating Ryan Garcia last year to capture the WBA welterweight title, and never moved forward with the ordered defense against Giyasov.
“Who is this? I don’t know him,” said Giyasov to The Ring when asked about Rolly.
“If you win on Saturday, do you think he’ll still not want to fight you?” said an interviewer to Giyasov.
“I don’t know. I think he’s scared of me,” said Giyasov.
The unbeaten Uzbek contender has steadily climbed the rankings for years but has struggled to secure marquee fights at 147. His bout 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 for most of his career at 140 pounds. 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 pushes for the titles to be consolidated.
“I think he’s scared of me!” 👀
Shakhram Giyasov, who fights for the WBA ‘regular’ belt this Saturday, believes WBA welterweight champion Rolly Romero is ducking him ❗️
Glory in Giza | May 23rd | 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 AM
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