Ryan Garcia was dropped and beaten on points by big underdog Rolando Romero this week in Times Square. Former undisputed heavyweight champion was ringside to watch the action.
The fight marked Garcia’s return from a one year doping ban following his no contest with Devin Haney last year. Haney, who beat Jose Ramirez on the undercard albeit underwhelmingly, did his part towards a pre-agreed rematch, but Garcia was upset by ‘Rolly’ to spoil the plans.
The 26-year-old was dropped by Romero in the pair’s first fight at welterweight, and would produce extremely low output for the remainder of the rounds. It was a unanimous decision in the underdog’s favour, who boxed disciplined for a career-best victory.
Speaking on the DAZN broadcast post-fight, ‘Iron’ Mike branded Garcia gun shy post-knockdown and felt that interest was now low on the rematch against Devin Haney.
“I don’t think [it was meant to happen that way.] I can’t believe it. He just took the heart out of Ryan. Once he dropped him, Ryan didn’t fight back at all … I didn’t expect that. I just expected Ryan to really go all out … What about Haney and [Rolly]? I want to see the best fight the best … [Rolly] controlled every round, pretty much.”
In his press conference after the event, Garcia was humble in defeat and said that he would go back to the gym and work on what he felt he did wrong, as well as finding that killer instinct that was clearly absent.
