Ryan Garcia Intends to Fight Rolando Romero Instead of Devin Haney: ‘Bigger Business’

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 6, 2024

Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images

Boxer Ryan Garcia announced Saturday that he has changed his mind and wants his next fight to be against Rolando Romero rather than Devin Haney.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Garcia wrote that it is his “intent” to fight Romero, as he believes it will be a bigger bout than the one against Haney:

RYAN GARCIA @RyanGarciaI’ve notified my team I’m going a different route. My intent now is to fight Rolando Romero. I pray my team backs me on this decision. Oscar make this fight happen. THATS THE MOVE. BIGGER FIGHT, BIGGER BUSINESS. #GarciaRomero

Garcia added in a follow-up post that a fight against Haney will be more significant down the line if he fights Romero first, and he expressed his belief that Haney “needs” him:

RYAN GARCIA @RyanGarciaAfter what happens to Rollies, the dev fight will be there and even bigger. Everyone critiquing now. Will end up seeing it was a better move. Plus he can go fight Richardson Hitchens. Go do your 30k PPV buys. I don’t need you dev you need me.

During an interview with Fight Hub TV (h/t TalkSport.com’s Cameron Temple) on Friday, promoter Oscar De La Hoya said Garcia specifically requested a fight with Haney and that he intended to start official negotiations with an eye toward making the match happen in March.

Romero seemed to confirm the matchup on Saturday, teasing a fight in the Spring:

Rolly 🤍 @SignUp4KOs#Spring2024 🤫 pic.twitter.com/jVMJ9Iq2Zj

The 25-year-old Garcia is considered one of the best young fighters in boxing, as he has posted a 24-1 professional record and is a former WBC interim lightweight champion.

Known by his nickname KingRy, Garcia went a perfect 23-0 to start his pro career but finally suffered his first defeat in April when the undefeated Gervonta “Tank” Davis beat him by seventh-round knockout.

Garcia quickly regrouped and bounced back, though, beating Oscar Duarte by eighth-round knockout in December.

Romero is a rising star in his own right as the 29-year-old is 15-1 and beat Ismael Barroso for the vacant WBA super lightweight title in his most recent fight back in May.

One bout before that, Romero suffered the first loss of his career much like Garcia, falling to Davis by sixth-round technical knockout.

While Romero recently became a champion, Haney has been fighting for and winning major world titles since 2019.

The 25-year-old Haney is a perfect 31-0, and he is the reigning WBC super lightweight champion, beating Regis Prograis for the title in December.

Haney previously dominated the lightweight division, holding the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles, but he decided to move up to super lightweight after scoring the biggest victory of his career.

In May 2023, Haney beat 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Vasiliy Lomachenko by unanimous decision, handing him only the third loss of his professional career.

While Haney has never lost professionally, Garcia and Haney were rivals in the amateur ranks and they were evenly matched with each fighter winning three times in their six meetings.

Fight fans have long wanted to see who would prevail in a professional boxing match, but Garcia may have a point about their fight being a bigger deal further down the line.

If Garcia can beat Romero for the WBA super lightweight title, then he and Haney could potentially have a unification bout with both the WBC and WBA titles on the line.