When it comes to teaching the sport of boxing and creating champions, Derrick James is known as one of the best. His championship stable might be thinner nowadays, but The former Trainer of the Year still has a handful of notable names.
Ryan Garcia, after falling woefully short against Gervonta Davis, believed he needed to make a change. Although he could’ve chosen just about anyone, he honed in on James. After working things out behind the scenes, the pair recently had their first bout together.
Against Oscar Duarte, Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) struggled initially before getting rid of his man in the eighth. Immediately after, the 25-year-old grabbed the nearest microphone he could find and called out Rolando “Rolly” Romero.
With the super lightweight division’s WBA title in one hand, Romero believes he’s calling all of the shots. Still, the talkative champ knows that in order to make a big fight, he needs a dance partner who can match his energy outside of the ring, making Garcia the perfect opponent.
In terms of his skills, Romero believes Garcia has fallen off a cliff since linking up with James. The renowned trainer might have a few former and current champions in his stable but Romero is urging the rest of the boxing world to take a hard look at some of his recent handiwork.
In the case of Errol Spence Jr., his unified welterweight reign brutally came to an end at the hands of Terence Crawford this past July. Jermell Charlo was noncompetitive in his showdown against Canelo Alvarez, and Frank Martin, a highly ranked lightweight contender, didn’t look too sharp earlier this year against Artem Harutyunyan. However, James’ heavyweight, Anthony Joshua, had a lot of success in 2023.
Romero is convinced that James is a bit overhyped and isn’t bringing anything valuable to the table for any of his fighters.
“He made Ryan 10 times worse,” said Romero on a self-recorded video. “He f—– up Spence’s career and Frank Martin ain’t looking too good.”