Ryan Garcia may have squandered his chances of a Devin Haney rematch by failing to get through Rolando Romero in his comeback bout.
The 26-year-old from California was dropped hard in the second round by a dialled-in ‘Rolly’, who stunned many viewers with his disciplined and mature performance.
Garcia looked gun-shy from then on and, despite the urgency from trainer Derrick James, failed to turn the tide enough to get the nod on the judges’ scorecards come the final bell. He lost via unanimous decision, 115-112, 115-112 and 118-109.
With the defeat, plans are spoiled for him to have a second fight with Haney later this year after the pair’s controversial first meeting in April 2024. On the night, Garcia dropped his rival three times to win a majority decision, however it was soon overturned to a no-contest when fight week doping tests came back positive with banned substance Ostarine.
This was the night both men returned to the ring, with a grudge return fight set for October should they be victorious against their respective opposition.
Haney – who also underwhelmed on the same card against Jose Ramirez but did get the unanimous decision win – immediately took to goading Garcia’s team in light of the ‘Rolly’ loss, and immediately asked it was due to fighting clean.
“What happened? No Ostarine?”
Devin Haney taunted team Garcia after the defeat to Rolly Romero 👀#GarciaRomero | Powered by @FATALFURY_PR City of Wolves | @SNKPofficial | @ringmagazinepic.twitter.com/mJc48RhZaD
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 3, 2025
Haney’s father and trainer later said:
“Ryan just f***ed the money up.”
The pair may indeed rematch further down the line, however Garcia’s defeat and Haney’s tentative performance certainly both dull the shine of what was potentially one of the biggest bouts in the sport.
As for Romero, who scored a career-best victory over Garcia and became WBA Regular Welterweight Champion in the process, he has options in this new division, or may even take a rematch himself.
