By Sam Volz
June 5, 2023
Source: Boxing News 24
Photo Source: Boxing News 24
Ryan Garcia briefly posted a fight-poster of him and Rolly Romero, saying that it’ll be in September if the fight gets made. Ryan then deleted the post, which he’s been doing lately.
It would appear that Ryan has made up his mind that he wants Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) rather than Isaac Cruz or Teofimo Lopez, the other two fighters he’d revealed that were on his three-fighter shortlist for his next.
The downside of Ryan fighting Rolly is obvious. If Kingry loses to this guy, it’s career-over because he’s not viewed as a credible fighter. The small percentage of boxing fans that do take Ryan seriously after his loss to Gervonta Davis will abandon ship, leaving him with only his 10 million Instagram followers to stay by his side. Those people aren’t fans of the sport. They’re just into Ryan because of his influencer angle.
Getting beaten by Gervonta Davis gives Ryan a built-in excuse, given that the Baltimore native is seen as one of the best at 140. Rolly isn’t one of the best at 140. Rolly’s a paper champion, and the only reason he holds the WBA title is that the referee, Tony Weeks, prematurely stopped his fight last month against 40-year-old Ismael Barroso in the ninth round.
Rolly needs to pay Ohara Davies step aside
One thing that could get in the way of Ryan (23-1, 19 KOs) fighting Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero is the WBA ordering him to defend his 140-lb title against his mandatory Ohara Davies. So unless Rolly pays Ohara a step aside or vacates, he’ll need to defend his WBA title against him next.
Rolly’s management at PBC will need to come up with a big enough step-aside offer to get Ohara to agree to move out of the way so that he can fight Ryan next.
It’s unlikely that Ryan, 24, will want to fight Rolly without the WBA belt because he needs that to use as a lure to get a rematch with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Reasons not to fight Rolly: A. Paper champion B. Controversy over Ismael Barroso fight C. Lacks talent D. Far better options at 140
For Ryan to be targeting Rolly, he likely feels that he needs the WBA belt to validate his knockout loss to Gervonta last April, and again, to use the strap to try and entice Tank to fight him again.
The WBA 140-lb would be the equivalent of a nightcrawler fishing bait for Ryan Garcia to catch the big fish Tank Davis to get the lucrative rematch he so badly wants.
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