Rolando Romero and Ryan Garcia war of words starts to escalate
Ryan Garcia and his turbulent relationship with Golden Boy promotions has been put on notice, with 140lbs-rival Rolando Romero insinuating that Oscar De La Hoya is impeding his career earnings.
Rolly Romero said on FightHub: “Al Haymon gave me a way better deal, that’s all I’ll say.”
Both fighters, as outspoken as each other, have engaged in a back-and-fourth dispute over social media since their earmarked showdown was scuppered.
Now, they will face different opponents, with Romero sticking with Haymon at PBC and Garcia, begrudgingly, continuing with De La Hoya at Golden Boy.
Romero returns after a controversial win over Ismael Barroso to face Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in a curtain raiser for PBC boxing on Amazon Prime.
The fight will co-feature a pay-per-view card headlined by Tim Tszyu vs Keith Thurman at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 30.
Rolando claimed the WBA world super lightweight title by defeating Barroso in a fight that many believe was prematurely stopped in the ninth round, by some dubious officiating.
The performance did not set Rolly above the current crop at super lightweight, which is one of the most competitive divisions at world level right now.
However, after Barroso’s emphatic first-round stoppage over Briton Ohara Davies, some might say that Romero’s stock has risen.
A fight between him and Garcia makes sense, given that both colourful characters have a common opponent in Gervonta Davis, who stopped Romero in the sixth and Garcia in the seventh.
Since then, 25-year-old Garcia has rebounded with a knockout win over Oscar Duarte, in December 2023, but showed that he still has much to learn under new trainer Derrick James.
Perhaps promotional differences and conversations around pay checks will eventually be put to one side so that the fight can finally be made.