OSCAR De La Hoya has snubbed the idea of a rematch between Ryan Garcia and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, while highlighting Teofimo Lopez as a more appealing option.
It arrived as a sizable upset when Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), dropped, and eventually outpointed, Garcia, 24-2 (20 KOs), in an otherwise lacklustre welterweight contest earlier this year.
Prior to that, ‘King Ry’ had tested positive for ostarine, a banned substance, for which he ultimately served a year-long ban following his controversial showdown with Devin Haney.
Back then, Garcia floored his rival three times en route to a majority decision victory, only for that result to then get overturned to a no-contest shortly after.
Based largely on his assertive performance against Haney, however, the 26-year-old was nonetheless seen as a considerable favourite ahead of his clash with Romero.
Yet ‘Rolly’, while hardly even needing to shift himself out of first gear, was able to bully Garcia, at times, before claiming the WBA ‘regular’ strap at 147lbs.
And since then, the 29-year-old has been upgraded to full WBA world champion, while Jaron Ennis, the sanctioning body’s previous belt-holder, has set his sights on a jump up to super-welterweight.
But despite the added incentive of a meaningful title, Garcia’s promoter, De La Hoya, has emphatically dismissed the possibility of a second encounter against Romero.
Instead, the Golden Boy boss is far more eager to see Garcia take on Teofimo Lopez, 22-1 (13 KOs), who still holds the WBO world super-lightweight title, in his next outing.
Before anything else, though, Garcia must first give himself ample time to recover from a hand injury.
“I want him to be cleared from his hand – he does have an injury – and I want the doctors to clear him 100 percent,” De La Hoya said earlier this morning, during the DAZN broadcast for Oscar Duarte vs Kenneth Sims Jr.
“I don’t [like the idea of a Romero rematch]. The first fight was a dull fight and, when you’re a promoter – and you’re trying to make rematches – it’s because the people want to see it.
“The first fight wasn’t that entertaining; the first fight wasn’t a big deal, so I believe that there’s other opponents out there for Ryan.
“There’s big fights we can make with the likes of Teofimo [Lopez], and other fighters out there.”
