RYAN Garcia was beaten in New York’s Times Square last night by Rolando Romero, putting a major dent in any hopes of a rematch with Devin Haney at the end of the year.
This is boxing, and that fight could still take place, but Garcia’s performance, coupled with Haney’s dire domination of Jose Ramirez earlier in the card, means it’s hard to justify. The three judges score it unanimously for Romero by scores of 115-112 (twice) and an accurate 118-109 to the Las Vegas resident.
The left hook had been such a major part of Garcia’s win over Haney in April 2024 and it was that exact punch that seemed to change this fight. After a confident start, Ryan was dropped and fought extremely conservatively for the remaining 10 rounds.
Ryan’s jab was on point in the opener, but old habits die hard, and in round two, Garcia was caught standing straight up. Romero punished him with a thudding left hook to the chin. Rolly followed it up with a partially blocked second effort as Ryan crumbled to the canvas for a count from referee Ricky Gonzalez.
For the remainder of the fight Romero rolled his shoulder off to the side and kept his compact shell, stabbing the jab to head and body. Ryan Garcia was reluctant to throw punches and unable to reach a pace to make things uncomfortable for Rolly.
“You deserved this, you’ve earned it,” said Derrick James between rounds 10 and 11. That was some odd phrasing, but no doubt the kind of motivation Garcia needed. Falling to 24-2 (20 KOs), the Victorville native failed to respond in this vacant WBA welterweight title clash.
“I don’t even think about what’s next,” said Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), graciously. “I think Devin and Ryan should get their rematch and make a big one.”
As for Garcia, he said, “Rolly fought a good fight, he caught me early. No excuses, congrats to him, he did a great job and that’s that.”
