The Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) showdown was a boring affair, and that’s putting it lightly. With the fiasco that the fight ended up becoming, Garcia is certainly “disgusted” and looking for any chance to have a rematch.
Garcia recently hosted a ‘Long time no talk’ on X where he fielded questions from fans and co-hosts about what went wrong during his fight with Romero and why he deserves a rematch.
“I don’t want to make no excuses, but I did have two major hand problems. That’s why I couldn’t let go of any of my punches. On top of it, I had a really bad training camp, and that’s just the truth,” Garcia said when asked about Romero’s decision win.
Garcia’s performance against Romero was abysmal, to say the least. The 12-round affair that marked his return to the ring, after a yearlong suspension following his failed drug test, saw him unable to recruit any substantial offense against his opponent.
Romero, on the other hand, wasn’t a lot better performance-wise either. Barring the left hook knockdown in round two, he seemed like he was holding back a lot too, further adding to the lackluster element of the fight.
In fact, when looking at CompuBox history, with a combined count of 123 punches landed out of a total of 490 punches thrown, it was the third-lowest output for a 12-round fight. Garcia is undoubtedly disappointed with this outcome and is hoping for a rematch to prove himself. This comes at a time when his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, brushed off any ideas about a rematch between the duo.
“Let me get my rematch. Let me prove I got it. Let me prove I can beat him, and then we can move on. Obviously, that wasn’t my best in any way, and I want to get my rematch,” he said. “I didn’t even watch it because I was disgusted with myself because I never fought like that in my life. I don’t never not throw punches. I don’t care who you are. I’m going to come in and throw my sh*t. I just had a really off night. I watched it, and nothing really happened other than the knockdown.”
“Wasn’t A Big Deal”
Garcia’s promoter, De La Hoya, isn’t very sold on the idea of a rematch. Recognizing its abject failure as an entertaining affair, he prefers someone like Teofimo Lopez for Garcia.
Oscar De La Hoya is eyeing the likes of Teofimo Lopez for Ryan Garcia’s next fight over a rematch with Rolly Romero 👀 pic.twitter.com/hA8jQRkhVD
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) August 3, 2025
“The first fight wasn’t that entertaining; the first fight wasn’t a big deal. So, I believe there are other opponents out there for Ryan. There are other big names out there. Other big fights we can make with the likes of Teofimo Lopez and other fighters out there,” he said.
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