Rolly Romero pulled off a huge upset by defeating Ryan Garcia on Friday night.
They met at Times Square in New York City on a card that also featured Teofimo Lopez defending his WBO super-lightweight title against Arnold Barboza, and Devin Haney earning a win against Jose Ramirez, but Romero ensured it was him that pulled off the biggest victory.
It was a fast start from Romero in the fight, dropping ‘King Ry’ in just the second round, and he continued to dominate the majority of the action from that point onwards.
Garcia struggled to display any real offense in his first fight for over 12 months since his clash with Haney in April 2024, and in the end it was a comfortable unanimous decision victory for Romero, with the judges scoring it 115-112, 115-112 and 118-109 in his favour.
One big name that was ringside for the fight was Terence Crawford, and the four-weight world champion revealed on social media in the aftermath that he was always confident Romero was going to earn the victory.
“I told Shakur Stevenson before the fight that Rolly was going to win.”
It remains to be seen what may happen now following Garcia’s defeat, with ‘King Ry’ and Haney originally planned to meet in a rematch later this year.
As for Crawford, he’ll be hoping there isn’t another big upset that prevents his next fight from taking place, when Canelo Alvarez meets William Scull in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. A win for Canelo there would then set up a showdown with Crawford in September.
