Danny Roman (22-21, 8 KOs) lived up to his moniker “The Baby-Faced Assassin” as he put a beating on his opponent Adam Lopez (16-1-1, 8 KOs) before forcing Lopez’s trainer Ronnie Shields to stop the bout after the end of the ninth round.
The fight, which was a WBA Super Bantamweight eliminator, was ultimately an extremely one-sided affair in favor of Roman–something that was largely unexpected. The then-undefeated Lopez was the betting favorite going into the bout.
Lopez was brutally knocked down twice in the fourth round, somehow managing to survive on instinct alone before making it into the fifth alive and barely intact.
Roman, if at all frustrated about not getting his man out in the fourth, made sure not to let him off the hook. In the following rounds Lopez failed to get into his rhythm, taking hard shot after hard shot.
The eighth and ninth became difficult rounds to watch as Roman continued on with his surgical presence, countering Lopez’s attacks and wobbling the young prospect every time he tried to launch his own offensive. Lopez spoke before the fight about taking his attacks to Roman’s body, but in the end it was Roman who punished both the body and the head of Lopez, sapping the upstart of any confidence he may have had.
Before the eighth round, Shields told Lopez he needed to show him something or else he would stop the fight. Shields did nothing the entire round yet was allowed to see the entirety of the ninth.
The loss comes as a disappointing halt to a career that was otherwise on track to seeing future title fights. For Lopez and Shields, it will be back to the drawing board before he sees another eliminator opportunity.
Roman is now lined up for a potential fight against current WBA Super Bantamweight titleholder Nehomar Cermeno.
