NEW YORK – Rolando Romero is completely convinced no future opponent will ever hit him harder than Ismael Barroso.

The fighter nicknamed “Rolly” realizes Ryan Garcia “can crack,” especially with his vaunted left hook. The former WBA super lightweight champion has repeatedly expressed respect for Garcia’s power during the promotion of their 12-round welterweight fight Friday night at Times Square in Manhattan.

The six rounds they sparred with one another early in their careers informed Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) that nothing Garcia hits him with in their DAZN Pay-Per-View main event will compare to the punishing punches he absorbed against Barroso in May 2023. Garcia and Romero will wear smaller gloves than when they sparred and won’t be protected by headgear in the main event of The Ring’s “FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves” outdoor card ($59.99).

Garcia’s power notwithstanding, Romero emphasized that Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs, 1 NC) doesn’t have “cinderblocks” attached to his wrists like those with which Barroso hit him.

“Oh, hell no!,” Romero exclaimed during an interview with The Ring. “What the f*ck? I’ve been in the damn ring with Ryan. What the hell you talking about? Hell, no! Not even close. What the f*ck? What the f*ck? What the f*ck? Bro, I been in the ring with Ryan. What the hell you talking about? … Man, not even close. That dude, Barroso, that was the hardest hitter I’ve ever been in the ring with, by far. [Garcia’s power] doesn’t even compare. And honestly, nothing will ever compare. I was like, ‘Is this what I f*cking do to people? Is this what it truly f*cking feels like?’ ”

The left-handed Barroso (25-5-2, 23 KOs), to whom Romero jokingly refers as a “grandpa,” knocked Romero to the canvas during the third round of their 140-pound championship match almost two years ago at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Romero remembers Barroso carrying his power throughout their bout, which ended in controversial fashion after Romero rocked Barroso in the ninth round, recorded a questionable knockdown and tried to finish off the 40-year-old Venezuelan veteran.

Romero admitted in the immediate aftermath of his victory that referee Tony Weeks prematurely halted their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event. Barroso slipped most of Romero’s punches once he got up from that debatable knockdown and remained on his feet when Weeks weirdly stopped the action.

North Las Vegas’ Romero believes he would’ve knocked out Barroso if their bout continued, maybe before the ninth round ended. Though confident in his own power, Romero was wary of his aged, dangerous opponent right up until their infamous fight ended.

“That dude had cinderblocks in his hands, bro,” Romero said. “I’ll tell you like this … I’ll be sleeping sometimes and I wake up and I see his face, and I just laugh. But I will tell you this, though, that was a very difficult fight, a very difficult fight. And I got him on a two-week notice. Nobody talks about that – how I was gonna fight Puello, the complete opposite style. You know, Puello’s not a puncher, and he’s a boxer. This dude’s an aggressive dude that comes forward, you know? It was a switch-up. And people don’t know this, but I was actually cut. I got cut literally right when they switched my opponent. I got kneed in my eye, so I mean, I couldn’t really spar like to adjust for Barroso.

“And, you know, he caught me with a good shot. He’s tricky. He’s a veteran. And I ended [it]. Like I said, they stopped the fight a tad bit premature, but he was about to get knocked out cold. In that one round, I landed more punches than the entire fight put together from both of us. And, you know, we’ve seen what I’ve done to other opponents, you know? And they stopped him, and there was about what, 35, 45 seconds left in that round? There was no way he made it out [of the ninth round]. But that fight was really difficult until about the fourth round, where I was really able to adjust to him.”

Romero lost by technical knockout in two of his past four fights, to WBA lightweight champ Gervonta Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) and former WBA super lightweight champ Isaac Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs). Those two defeats are among the reasons DraftKings considers Garcia, of Victorville, California, a 9-1 favorite to beat Romero.

Garcia, 26, and Romero, 29, will both box at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds for the first time Friday night.