Ryan Garcia has decided not to continue discussions with Devin Haney and has chosen to face Rolando Romero instead.
This development follows Oscar De La Hoya expressing confidence that a fight with Haney would be arranged, with talks expected to start soon. Garcia had called out Haney after The Dream's victory over Regis Prograis, making the possibility of the fight more likely since both fighters had their last match on DAZN. However, Garcia has shifted his focus to facing Rolly, and the fight with Haney is no longer on the table.
“I’ve notified my team I’m going a different route. My intent now is to fight Rolando Romero. I pray my team backs me on this decision. Oscar make this fight happen. THATS THE MOVE. BIGGER FIGHT, BIGGER BUSINESS,” Garcia
These remarks followed Garcia being seen with Floyd Mayweather. They were seen together at a mall and even went on a late-night run. This raised speculation that Garcia might fight Romero, especially since Rolly is a PBC fighter, and PBC tends to have their fights within their own group.
If Garcia manages to defeat Romero and become the WBA junior welterweight champion, a fight with Haney becomes more significant. A unification match would be possible, giving Garcia the opportunity to earn more. That's the plan moving forward.
“After what happens to Rollies, the dev fight will be there and even bigger. Everyone critiquing now. Will end up seeing it was a better move. Plus he can go fight Richardson Hitchens. Go do your 30k PPV buys. I don’t need you dev you need me,” Garcia
Garcia aims to fight Romero on Cinco de Mayo weekend, providing him with an opportunity to sell another major PPV. His previous bout with Gervonta Davis had over 1.2 million PPV sales and earned him $30 million, making it the highest-earning event of 2023. Given reports that Haney's fight with Regis Prograis didn't do well on PPV, Garcia's strategy is evident.
“Devin lost his shot; he thought it was Haney vs. Garcia; he should’ve known it was Garcia vs. Haney. He did 35,000 PPV buys [against Regis Prograis]. He’s going to take that and go fight Richardson Hitchins. Devin Haney vs. Richardson Hitchins. I’m helping him out for his next move. Rolly Polly, he just rolls into things. I destroy that man. I see his eyes closed. I believe this fight is in May, May 5th,” Garcia said
Romero backed up those comments by hinting that a spring date was likely. The following image on Romero’s Instagram shows him and Garcia facing off with the comments: “#Spring2024.”
Social Media Reactions:
Yea Floyd told you avoid him. We all saw this coming
— Bankrun P 🇺🇸 (@BankrunP) January 6, 2024
I would like to see ryan get more experience before jumping in the ring with dev
— Anh Huynh (@AnhrealTweets) January 6, 2024
I love the excuses. Your last fight wasn’t on ppv for a reason. You need this fight more than Haney, at least he has championship belts.
— Brendan Mosley (@BoxingBoosted) January 6, 2024