De La Hoya: Ryan Garcia Wants Rolly Romero In His Next Fight
Oscar De La Hoya has revealed that Ryan Garcia wants to fight Rolando Romero in his next fight.
Garcia is coming off an eighth-round stoppage win over Oscar Duarte. The fight was his first under Derrick James at 140 as he put aside his promotional differences with De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins to emerge victorious. While there are uncertainties over Garcia’s future with Golden Boy, De La Hoya is pressing ahead as usual. He confirmed that Romero was the target, which could give Garcia his first world title. Rolly holds the WBA belt, which he acquired after stopping Ismael Barroso in the ninth round.
De La Hoya On Garcia
“We’re going to sit down with Team Ryan Garcia and he has expressed a lot of interest in fighting Rolly, and if that’s the fight they want, if that’s the fight we have to negotiate then so be it. As his promoter I will get him the best deal structure and we will once again build one of the biggest PPVs of the year,” De La Hoya said
Romero is arguably the easiest option in the 140-pound division for a world title. Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez and Subriel Matias are much more challenging fights. Haney recently won the WBC belt by dominating Regis Prograis to win every round on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Meanwhile, Lopez gave the former undisputed champion at 140, Josh Taylor, the first defeat of his career to pick up the WBO belt. As for Matias, the IBF champion is a knockout artist, with all his wins coming from stoppages. Nevertheless, a win over Romero would place Garcia into a unification fight, allowing him to solidify his name as one of the best in the division.
And a fight with Haney could follow. The two boxers have faced each other six times during the amateurs. Their rivalry is tied at 3-3, so a fight will decide who is the top dog. Since Haney and Garcia are with DAZN, it would be a lot easier to make the fight. De La Hoya recognised that Haney was a top fighter.
De La Hoya On Haney
“I think Devin Haney is a special fighter. [And] I think Devin Haney knows how to figure out his opponents. I knew from the start that Haney had a better corner, I knew he had a better strategy — it obviously showed — but Haney knows how to dissect you and be patient and use his reach and his distance and doesn’t care what the crowd says. That’s crucial to any fighter…I have no idea who is representing Haney. I’ll have my people look into it,” De La Hoya stated
Garcia’s huge popularity and ability to sell makes him an attractive opponent for any fighter. Although he fell short against Gervonta Davis in the biggest fight of his career, he can redeem himself at 140. And a world title would undoubtedly do that.
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