Ryan Garcia Suffers Stunning Loss to Rolando Romero in Times Square Bout
In a shocking turn of events, Ryan Garcia’s highly anticipated comeback fight ended in a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Rolando "Rolly" Romero on Friday night at the historic Times Square event in New York. The scores were 115-112, 115-112, and 118-109 in favour of Romero, who entered the bout as a whopping +700 underdog on BetMGM.
According to reports from Yahoo Sports, Garcia had not competed in over a year after testing positive for the banned substance ostarine in two drug tests related to his grudge match against Devin Haney. Garcia dropped Haney three times en route to a majority decision win, however, the match was later declared a no contest due to the drug-test failures and Garcia received a one-year suspension.
Friday’s big return in Times Square was supposed to be the last step toward scheduling a Garcia vs. Haney rematch, but Romero didn’t get the memo. He knocked down Garcia in the second round then dominated the rest of the 12-round bout opposite a lethargic effort from Garcia. As Yahoo Sports reports, Romero’s upset victory may have been the biggest surprise of the year.
The reaction to Garcia’s loss has been mixed, with many of his peers in the boxing world expressing their delight at the outcome. As reported by Yahoo Sports, given Garcia’s slew of divisive comments in 2024 and his drug-testing past, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to find out that many were not unhappy to see Friday’s outcome.
The boxing world has been quick to react to Romero’s upset victory, with many taking to social media to express their shock and delight at the result. As Yahoo Sports notes, Devin Haney, who has had a complicated history with Garcia, was among those who were pleased with the outcome.
In a statement, Yahoo Sports reported that many in the boxing world are now questioning Garcia’s future in the sport. With his immediate future spiraling into the unknown, Garcia will have to regroup and reassess his strategy if he hopes to regain his footing in the boxing world.
The Yahoo Sports report also highlighted the impressive performance of Romero, who proved his doubters wrong with a dominant display. The result is a significant upset in the boxing world, and one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences for both Garcia and Romero.
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