Oscar De La Hoya posted on social media today, saying that Golden Boy will put together the Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero fight next and make it a “huge event.”
This is good news that De La Hoya is no longer talking about Devin Haney as Ryan’s next opponent because he already said he’s changed his mind about fighting him next and wants to challenge Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) for his WBA light welterweight title.
Shifting Gears
Ryan has his reasons for switching opponents, pointing out that Haney brought in only “35K” buys for his fight against WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis on DAZN PPV on December 9th.
That’s an excellent reason because Haney would have outsized Ryan, and it would have been asking a lot of him to overcome the massive weight disparity and skills.
De La Hoya shouldn’t be too upset if the overall plan is to put Ryan Garcia in winnable fights that can help his popularity continue to grow. But if the original idea was to pit Ryan against Haney, knowing he had no chance of winning and focusing only on the short term, it’s good that Kingry vetoed that plan.
Some people thought it was a crazy idea to begin with for Ryan to challenge Haney for his WBC belt because he’s not developed enough for this kind of fight.
Despite Ryan’s last fight taking place at 140, he’s not fought a light welterweight yet, and Haney is essentially a welterweight. Ryan’s opponent last December, Oscar Duarte, was picked out from the 135-lb division, where he was ranked #11 WBO.
De La Hoya’s Guarantee
“Golden Boy has worked with Ryan Garcia since he turned pro, and together have made him the biggest draw in boxing. We will make his fight with Rolly into a huge event, as we always do,” said Oscar De La Hoya on social media, confirming that he’ll put together the title fight between Ryan Garcia and WBA light welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero next.
Rolly has the charisma and stage presence to make for a massive promotion for a fight with Ryan, and that’s something that Haney wouldn’t be able to do. He’s almost mute when he’s on stage, which puts pressure on his dad, Bill Haney, to do all the talking.
Having a mid-40-year-old doing all the promoting didn’t work for Haney’s fight with Prograis.
