Shortly after Ryan Garcia scored a stoppage win against Oscar Duarte on Dec. 2, he called out 140-pound WBA beltholder Rolando Romero during his post-fight interview in the ring.
Days passed, and Garcia ultimately passed on “Rolly” and refocused his energy on the recently crowned WBC titlist Devin Haney.
Garcia took to social media on Thursday to clear the air about the fight triangle, and who’s the real centerpiece around his next contest.
“I’m sorry Rollies – you and your team work way too slowly and you were way too indecisive. I didn’t know if you wanted to box or vacation. Devin Haney and I are in negotiations – respect that. I’m not entertaining anything,” said Garcia.
Haney replied, “See you soon, pal.”
During that same span, in what appeared as somewhat of a last hail mary attempt, Romero alluded to a fight against Garcia in March.
“I’ve spent enough time away from boxing. It’s time to make the biggest PPV event of 2024. Let’s give the fans what they want, they’ve been begging for this for years,” said Romero.
“Watch Ryan duck me after I’ve been partying for the last seven months. I don’t even need a training camp to spank that ass … you’re just allergic to punchers.”
Haney has also communicated that Garcia is the next fight that he’s focused on making.
“[The Garcia fight is] something that we’re talking about,” Haney recently said. “We’re in negotiations with Oscar and Ryan, Ryan’s lawyer, Ryan’s team. It could very much be what’s next … We’re still in the beginning stages of negotiations, so we’ve just got to see. But definitely, Matchroom is part of the team for sure.”
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) and Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) have an extensive amateur history fighting against each other; they’ve each scored three wins against each other.
Haney has built a strong case for the Fighter of the Year award in 2023 by narrowly scoring a unanimous decision win against Vasiliy Lomachenko and a shutout decision victory against Regis Prograis.
Garcia, meanwhile, co-headlined the blockbuster event of the year but suffered a seventh-round knockout loss to Gervonta Davis.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.