Langston, who primarily fights at light heavyweight, has victories over undefeated fighters Isaac Carbonell (9-0) and Caleb Hernandez (8-0), as well as a majority draw with unbeaten boxer Dante Benjamin (7-0).
Romero obtained a sixth-round technical knockout over seasoned veteran Vaughn Alexander in February. Three months later, the orthodox boxer from Olathe, Kansas, stopped late replacement Andre Sherard in the first round with a hard right hook to the body in his last outing. Romero has won every round (35) he has fought as a professional, on all three judges’ scorecards.
“My performance has been getting better. I stopped Alexander when he did not come out for the seventh round in February. I fought Langston less than a month later; he had a good record and had beaten a couple of prospects, and I went eight rounds with him. Then I scored a first-round knockout over Sherard in May,” Romero said.
Romero has been extremely active, especially lately, with 14 fights in two years, including five bouts in four months and two fights in less than two weeks (from March through June in 2025). This year, he has fought three times in four months.
John Brown, Romero’s longtime head trainer and manager, has been the key to keeping him so active. Romero has been training with Brown at the Turner Boxing Academy in Kansas City, Kansas (one of the largest gyms in the United States) since he started boxing at age seven.
“Brown is like a father figure to me. We have had a game plan since the beginning of my professional career: to stay active and climb the divisional rankings,” Romero said. “We talk daily about what is coming up for me and what is coming up in the future. We always have good conversations. It helps me see my path more clearly. He is a great guy and takes care of me just like a manager should.”
The legendary amateur trainer, who has been in the sport for over 60 years, has trained more than 19,000 boxers, and his fighters have won over 60 national championships. Brown founded Ringside Boxing, which sells boxing equipment, and was the President of USA Boxing. He was inducted into the National Silver Gloves Hall of Fame in 1996 and the National Golden Gloves Hall of Fame in 2004. The only other professional boxer he has been the lead trainer and manager for was former world heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison (48-3-1, 42 KOs), during his peak years from 1988 to 1993, when he was fighting out of Kansas.
“I am hoping to stay active in the second half of 2026 with at least three to five more bouts and be 18-0 or 19-0 by the end of the year,” Romero said.
Despite having an extremely successful amateur career and a dominating start as a professional, Romero is not signed by a promoter. He has received a couple of offers from promoters since his last bout in May, and he and his team are weighing their options. He is expected to sign with one of them soon.
Romero has an impressive 86 percent knockout ratio. Of the 12 fighters he has knocked out, 11 have been stopped inside three rounds. Five of his knockouts have come in the first round, including his last outing.
“I have had a lot of knockout wins because in the boxing gym, we are always looking for the kill shot. If I see the opening, I take it. This is what happened in my last fight with Sherard. I saw an opening, and I landed a hard body shot that he walked into, and he fell to the canvas,” Romero said. “I am also a hard puncher because I incorporate a lot of strength and conditioning into my training camps. My strength was greater than Langston’s, who was an older, bigger fighter than I was, yet I dominated him. I am only 20 years old, so I am just getting into my man strength. I have not reached it.”
He has headlined two fight cards so far – against Langston and Javier Dario Aragon. Romero’s fight against Aragon marked the first time he had fought in his hometown. Romero has fought four times in Kansas and twice in Missouri (which borders Kansas) for his last two bouts.
“Kansas means everything. I was born and raised here, and this is where I learned to box. Boxers from Kansas get overlooked. We are like the underdogs. We do not have the same exposure as boxers from Texas or California,” Romero said. “We have many boxers from Kansas who are very talented, have a lot of heart, and work hard. I want to make Kansas a boxing state and not a lookover state.”
Other talented fighters from Kansas include International Boxing Hall of Famer Jess Willard, who knocked out Jack Johnson for the heavyweight world title in 1915, and Nico Hernandez, a bronze medalist in the flyweight division at the 2016 Summer Olympics and 13-0, 6 KOs in the professional ranks. Former world champions Brandon Rios and Victor Ortiz both trained at the Garden City Boxing Club in Garden City, Kansas (the same town where Ortiz was born) for several years.
“In 2027, I want to be fighting a top-ten boxer in the middleweight division. By the end of 2027, I want to fight for a world title and bring that belt back to Kansas,” said Romero, who will now compete at 160 pounds, which he believes is a more natural weight for him, after fighting mainly in the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions (from 161 to 174 pounds). “It is time for the world to know who I am. I am here to make a big statement to the boxing world.”
He has gained invaluable fighting experience by sparring with elite fighters: Radivoje Kalajdzic (Serbia) (30-3, 22 KOs), Erik Bazinyan (Armenia) (32-1-1, 23 KOs), Iman Khataev (Russia) (12-1, 11 KOs), and unbeaten prospects, Moreno Fendero (France) (15-0, 11 KOs) and fellow Kansan native Eric Priest (16-0-1, 8 KOs). Romero has also sparred with several boxers from Zuffa Boxing (a new boxing promotion founded by UFC CEO Dana White and the Chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh).
“My career is going great. My activity is super important. I am moving in the right direction,” Romero said. “I am getting the experience that I need. I am looking forward to taking on bigger and better challenges this year and next year.”
Romero had a decorated amateur career comprising 150 bouts (145-5) in the 165-pound division. He was a 23-time National champion and has not lost a fight in seven years, since dropping a split decision to elite boxer Benjamin Johnson in June 2019, at the National Junior Olympics (Johnson won the 2021 and 2022 USA National Championship, and the 2023 Brandenburg Youth Cup). Romero won the 2024 National Golden Gloves and was named Outstanding Boxer of the Tournament. He was also a 4-time USA Boxing National champion, a 3-time National Junior Olympics titleholder, and a 6-time National Silver Gloves champion.
“My proudest moment as an amateur was winning the 2024 National Golden Gloves tournament [his first title at the elite amateur level]. I fought five times in six days against grown men and stopped two of them,” said Romero, who missed his high school graduation while competing at the tournament. “I also won the Golden Boy Award [sometimes called the Outstanding Boxer Award] as the best fighter of the tournament, becoming the first boxer from Kansas to win this award.”
During his amateur career, Romero defeated several undefeated professional fighters: Grant Flores (13-0, 9 KOs) and Sebastian Juarez (11-0, 8 KOs), at the 2022 USA Boxing National Qualifier tournament, as well as Elijah Lugo twice (4-0, 1 KO), Kevin Mendez Ocho (6-0, 2 KOs), and Jahyden Franklin Britton (9-0, 6 KOs). Romero fought Emiliano Vargas (18-0, 15 KOs), but lost at the 2017 USA Prep Open semifinals.
Romero was unable to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, due to new boxing rules implemented before the Olympics started. The Olympics eliminated the 165-pound weight class, and Romero could not make the 156-pound weight limit and was too small for the 176-pound division. The Olympics also raised the minimum age for boxing from 18 (his age at the time) to 19. Instead of waiting another four years to fight at the Olympics, Romero turned pro in June 2025 (a month after his last amateur bout).
“My younger brother [Miguel] constantly asked my Dad, who was a big boxing fan, to take us to the boxing gym. Eventually, my Dad probably got tired of being asked, so he finally gave in and took us to the gym, thinking we would not like it,” Romero said. “My brother eventually quit and played soccer, but I fell in love with the sport instantly.”
Miguel, who is two years younger than Marco, joined the Johnson County Community College (in Overland, Kansas) soccer team (which is consistently ranked among the top national contenders) this upcoming season as a forward and winger. He had a standout prep career at Olathe West High School, where he was the top goal scorer. Miguel hopes to play for a Division 1 soccer team during his collegiate career.
“My biggest role models are my parents [Salvador and Sendy]. They are such hard workers. I look up to them all the time. They sacrificed so much for my younger brother and me. That is what motivates me to give everything I have to boxing. I want to repay them for what they did for my brother and me,” Romero said.
Both of his parents are from Mexico – his father is from Michoacan and his mother is from Guanajuato – and they both proudly celebrated their Mexican heritage with Marco and Miguel.
“My Mexican heritage means everything to me. It characterizes me as a fighter – a strong Mexican warrior, every time I get in the ring, like Julio Cesar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera, after whom I am named,” said Romero, whose brother is named after Miguel Cotto. “My nickname “El Tiburón” means the shark in Spanish, and when I get in the ring, I am like a shark. I fight with a relentless, offensive-pressure fighting style of combination punches that overwhelms my opponents, who cannot keep me off of them, as a shark does with its prey.”
For more information about Romero’s boxing career and upcoming fights, add him on Instagram at MarcoRomero and TurnerBoxingAcademy, and on Facebook at MarcoRomero and TurnerBoxingAcademy.
“I want to be a world champion in multiple weight classes and be one of the greatest fighters of my time,” Romero said. “I want to bring a world title back to Kansas because we have not had a world titleholder in a while. I also want to give back to my community, which has helped me from the beginning, and stamp Kansas as a boxing state.”
