Ryan Garcia thought his 2025 was set in stone.
The first thing he needed to do was push
Rolando “Rolly” Romero out of the way. Once he did, he could run things back with Devin Haney. The two have unfinished business following Garcia’s failed pre-fight drug test which led to his win over Haney in 2024 being overturned to a no-contest.
Haney, of course, had to get Jose Ramirez out his way. And while it wasn’t exciting, he walked away from their May 2 contest with a wide unanimous decision win.
Garcia, though, fell short to Romero. Now, his plans are ruined, but that doesn’t mean his future isn’t incredibly bright. Oscar De La Hoya, his promoter, is sure of it. Even though Garcia is still attempting to process what went wrong, he and De La Hoya are working together to pick up the pieces.
At the moment, it’s a bit too early to make any announcements. Meaning, everything is on the table. Well, everything outside of a rematch with Haney.
“That’s not the direction we want to go,” De La Hoya said to FightHype.com. “Zero. I’m gonna sit down with Ryan. He’s in great spirits. We’re looking forward to the future. We’re gonna nail down exactly what the plans are going to be and put it in play.”
Prior to facing Romero, Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) mentioned a hit list that was a mile long. It included Haney, Jaron Ennis and even Vergil Ortiz Jr. At this point, none of those makes sense. Although the final decision isn’t up to Garcia, if De La Hoya had things his way he would throw him right back in the ring with Romero.
“That’s exactly what I would do. That would be the right move for him. Go get revenge.”