Roy Jones Jr has named one fighter Ryan Garcia should face before exploring a potential rematch with Devin Haney.
The pair have been on a collision course since their encounter in April 2024, back when Garcia edged a majority decision after scoring three knockdowns.
His victory, however, was ruled a no-contest once it emerged that ‘King Ry’ had tested positive for banned substance ostarine, for which he served a year-long ban.
The American then returned to action last May, only to suffer a unanimous decision defeat against Rolando Romero after getting floored in the second round.
Now, it would appear that WBO titlist Haney is set to face Romero, the WBA world welterweight champion, in a unification match on May 30.
Garcia, meanwhile, is coming off a wide points victory over Mario Barrios, who he dropped in the opening round before claiming the WBC welterweight title.
But while the 27-year-old produced arguably a career-best performance last month, pound-for-pound legend Jones has ultimately advised against a Haney rematch for his next outing.
Instead, Jones has told Fight Hub TV that he would like to see Garcia square off against Shakur Stevenson, the WBO world super-lightweight champion.
“Shakur is a hard match for anybody. I think Ryan should fight Shakur first because there’s bigger money for him. Let ‘Rolly’ [Romero] fight Haney and see how that works out, because [Garcia] didn’t beat ‘Rolly’.
“If Haney dominates ‘Rolly’… [Garcia] should give Haney [a] rematch.”
While Garcia and Stevenson have previously expressed interest in their possible showdown, with the latter proposing a catchweight of 144lbs, there appears to have been no official talks between their respective teams.
