Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, for the first time since his debut in 2016, has pulled off the kind of upset that can be labeled the upset of the year. Against the odds, Rolly stepped into the ring as the older, shorter, and smaller fighter, and yet, he was the one who walked away with the win. Not only that. In round two, he stunned Ryan Garcia with two left hooks to the head that sent Ryan Garcia falling to the canvas from which the Victorville native, it seems, never recovered. And while the fight itself wasn’t exactly a firefight—just 54 landed punches for Garcia across 12 rounds, making it one of the lowest-output bouts compubox has ever recorded—the result couldn’t have been louder, especially for a PBC fighter fighting on a Riyadh Season card.
This wasn’t just a loss for Ryan Garcia. It was a derailment. And a rematch with Devin Haney (mapped out by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh for later this year) is now in limbo. Maybe gone for good. After the fight, Ryan Garcia tried to make sense of it. “I just think that whole year off took a lot off my body, physically and mentally,” he lamented. However, “I’m just happy I made it into the ring and fought 12 rounds. Hats off to Rolly. He did a great job.”
But here’s the thing. While Ryan Garcia might feel like Rolando Romero did it all right, the 29-year-old himself feels that things were made particularly difficult for him. A few hours ago, @abe209fights shared a clip of Rolando Romero on his Instagram live, hours after the fight. “Rolly Romero says backstage politics were played before his fight with Ryan Garcia last night in New York. He got the victory in a shocking scene in Times Square,” the caption from the clip read.
In the clip, the 17-2 boxer was venting his frustration over what he believed were deliberate attempts by the organizers to sabotage him before the fight with Ryan Garcia. He claimed that the organizers failed to even provide him a proper place to stay before the fight, which is a basic necessity for any fighter, especially for someone coming to another city. “They didn’t have a fu–ing hotel room for me,” he said angrily. On top of it, he added, “They fu–ed up my gloves. I didn’t care. I kept it cool. They didn’t put no damn money in escrow or nothing! They all had a fu–ing plan & look at this sh-t….I destroyed everything they fu–ing had!”
Though none of these accusations have been confirmed by the other fighters or even Romero’s own team, it does open the door for questions regarding fights being planned beforehand, something very unusual in boxing. Throughout the buildup, too, when the idea of a Devin Haney rematch was brought up after Garcia’s win over Rolly, Rolando Romero felt as though he had already been written off by the media, something which he shared in the post-fight press conference as well. Though he did agree that Devin Haney should get a rematch with Ryan Garcia.
Despite the odds heavily favoring the 26-year-old, it seems one man knew all along that Romero would defeat Ryan Garcia. Who? Floyd Mayweather Jr., that’s who!
Ring rust or not, the problem runs deeper for Ryan Garcia
Right after Canelo Alvarez’s win over William Scull, he was asked what he thought about Ryan Garcia’s surprising loss to Rolando Romero. And as always, Canelo kept it real for his young friend but respectful. “I feel sorry for him(Ryan Garcia),” he told FightHubTV. “But he’s in boxing. You know, things happen.”
KingRy himself pointed fingers at the odd atmosphere of the Times Square venue—no crowd noise, no energy, not the kind of stage he’s used to. But Canelo wasn’t buying that excuse. For him, the issue was clear. “One year layoff—it’s hard.” Sure, but Romero was coming off a long break, too, but Canelo made it clear that ring rust is real. But Romero’s former promoter, Floyd Mayweather, always knew that Rolly could defeat Garcia.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 21: Floyd Mayweather speaks during a press conference, ahead of the WBA Lightweight Championship fight between Gervonta Davis and Rolando Romero on December 5, at Staples Center on October 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Speaking to TMZ back in 2019, the 50-0 boxer had said, “I am putting the money out right now. If Ryan Garcia can beat Rolly, I’ll give him $200K cash. Less fights than he has, he’s gonna fight Rolly, accept the bout with Rolly, I give him $200K cash if he beats Rolly. Now once he loses to Rolly, I don’t wanna hear him say ‘Tank”s name again.”
And now, here we are. After losing to Gervonta Davis by KO in the seventh, and now a unanimous decision loss to Rolando Romero, for Ryan Garcia, the numbers—and the performance—seem to back up Money Mayweather’s claim: it’s a skill issue.
So what do you think? Does Ryan Garcia lack elite-level boxing skills? and is the Devin Haney rematch still possible?
The post “They F-cked Up My Gloves” – Rolando Romero Exposes Conspiracy as Ryan Garcia Fight Comes Under Severe Allegations appeared first on EssentiallySports.