Romero, 30, was down on his luck when he was picked to face Brian Viloria for the 108-pound title. He was fired from his job in a printing shop in Guadalajara, his hometown, six weeks ago and desperately needed a shot in the arm.
Money was so scarce that Romero couldn’t even afford a cellphone which is now almost a necessity. Then, he had an extra mouth to feed. Two months back, his girlfriend gave birth to their first child, a son named Christopher.
Early in his pro career, Romero was considered to be a world title prospect. He halted highly-touted Jorge Arce, later a world champion, in 1996, a year after turning pro, in only his fifth outing. But three years after a promising 14-0 start, Romero was knocked out by Gilberto Keb-Baas and in 2004, by Alberto Rosas.
In his last three fights before facing Viloria, Romero was lucky to beat Carlos Bouchan, Juan Gamez and Martin Zepeda — all on points.
Viloria was a 14-1 favorite to whip Romero, called "El Maestrito" (the little teacher or master) because of his technical proficiency. Oddsmakers hardly booked bets since there was little interest in a voluntary defense that had the makings of a lopsided outcome.
But lo and behold, it was Romero’s arm that was raised by referee Kenny Bayless when Michael Buffer announced the decision after the 12-round contest.
"I came here with one thing on my mind and that was winning the title," said Romero, quoted by Kevin Iole of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I wanted this more than anything and I was going to get it.
"I heard he was a hard hitter but I felt his power early and he never hurt me. That’s when I knew I had him."
Romero said he was well-prepared for the fight and dedicated the victory to his new-born son.
"I knew if he was going to beat me, he was going to have to hit me with counters and as long as I kept my jab out there, he wasn’t going to counter anything," said Romero.
The jab was Romero’s chief weapon to dictate the tempo of the fight. In between rounds, trainer Freddie Roach pleaded to Viloria to throw the jab and get busy with combinations. In the end, statistics showed Viloria landed only seven jabs throughout the bout. In contrast, Romero connected on 58 of 270.
Top Rank Promotions’ head Bob Arum said Viloria is entitled to a rematch after Romero’s first defense but isn’t inclined to arrange it.
"Brian has a tendency to show up flat and he was as flat as can be," said Arum, quoted by Iole. "I’d like to give him a rematch but how can you do it now, given what happened. He just got completely outworked. The decision was totally justified."
The three judges had no difficulty choosing the winner. Mark Green saw it 117-112 with eight rounds for Romero, three for Viloria and one even. Adalaide Byrd had it 118-110 with 10 rounds for Romero and two for Viloria. Chuck Giampa scored it 117-111 with nine rounds for Romero and three for Viloria.
Tagawa was born in the US Mainland and raised in Hawaii. His movie credits include "Mortal Kombat" "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Pearl Harbor." He also starred with Don Johnson in the TV series "Nash Bridges."
Tagawa is now working on a film with William DeFoe.
According to Viloria’s manager Gary Gittelsohn, Tagawa was booked to fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas but when the flight was cancelled, he rented a car and drove alone for six hours to catch the fight.
Tagawa was in Viloria’s dressing room before and after the match to show his support for his friend.
Viloria and Tagawa were guest celebrities in a McDonald’s benefit marathon in Honolulu last year.
Trainer Freddie Roach said fighters from 135 pounds up, will be required to use 10-ounce gloves. In the previous rule, fighters from 105 to 153 used eight-ouncers and from 154 up, 10-ouncers.
"Statistics show that a lot of fighters get badly injured in the weight classes from lightweight to junior middleweight so the new requirement takes that into consideration," said a commission official.
Other new rules, said the official, are mandatory medical check-ups in the ring after a fight, instead of the dressing room, and the authorized use of pre-inspected fluids, like Gatorade, during a bout.
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