Yoel Romero explains why he won’t move up to light heavyweight
Yoel Romero has been known to have a tough weight cut and even missed weight two times for title fights. Yet, he is reluctant to move up to light heavyweight.
Many think Romero wouldn’t be undersized and have a ton of success at 205 pounds. Yet the Cuban says he’d be too small for light heavyweight. He says he would only be around 210 pounds which is just four pounds above the limit for a non-title fight.
“When I’m training, I go down (in weight), and when I’m training, normally when I have a good training, (I weigh a) maximum 210 (pounds),” Romero said at a media event Monday in Los Angeles (via MMA Junkie). “It’s not possible. When I’m not training, boom – yeah, heavyweight. But when I’m training – 210, 208, 210, 208. It’s not possible for me. It’s not possible because I’m training good. I have respect for my job. When I’m training, I know what I need to do for good training.
“When you don’t sleep good, and when (you’re not eating healthy), something wrong happens. Mistake. … When I have a good training, it’s not possible to go up. The (potential opponents) are so heavy.”
Yoel Romero has made it clear he will make weight on Friday and will be eligible to fight for the middleweight title on Saturday.
Why the Cuban has missed weight in the past, he says it is due to his time management.
“Everybody is different, but no excuses,” Romero said. “You need to do it because it’s the one mandatory thing you need to do as a professional – as long as you have enough time to do it.”
Romero is entering this fight on a two-fight losing streak after dropping decisions to Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker. Yet, Costa and Jared Cannonier are out with injuries leaving Romero to be the next challenger for Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title.
