Oscar De La Hoya confirmed today that Ryan Garcia had given him his marching orders for a fight against WBA light welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero next March.
De La Hoya says that if Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) is the fight that Ryan (24-1, 20 KOs) wants next, Golden Boy will begin negotiating the match-up with him.
Oscar says he’ll work to get the “best PPV deal structure” for Ryan Garcia against Rolly, who is a PBC fighter who will soon be fighting on Amazon Prime Video PPV.
The success of a fight between those two will hinge on Ryan’s huge social media following because boxing fans won’t want to pay to see this match-up. Rolly’s recent win over 40-year-old Ismael Barroso was disturbing to watch. The ending had a professional wrestling aspect to it.
Fighting Rolly gives Ryan his best chance of winning a fight before he looks in the direction of more fan-friendly fights against WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney, WBO champ Teofimo Lopez, or a rematch with Gervonta Davis.
Ryan is coming off a victory over lightweight Oscar Duarte on December 2nd in Texas. The effort by the 25-year-old Ryan under new trainer Derrick James showed that he’d regressed from his previous match against Gervonta Davis, which wasn’t a good performance either.
De La Hoya said Ryan could fight three times in 2024 if he fights in March, and he likes that idea.
De La Hoya ready to negotiate Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero
“Whatever Ryan wants next is what we’ll do. Whatever we think the best move is as a team collectively, we are going to start working on it,” said Oscar De La Hoya to the media today when asked about who Ryan Garcia will fight next.
“Ryan Garcia wants to come back in March, spend time with the family, and then start the serious training after the holidays and then get ready for March. I think that’s ideal, De La Hoya continued.
It would be better for Ryan to focus on the biggest money fight possible available to him because the chances are high that he’s going to lose to Rolly, and he’ll mess up his chances of making the kind of dough that he’d get fighting Haney or Tefoimo Lopez. Rolly is a mediocre fighter, but Ryan is even worse than him.
“If you’re starting in March, you can possibly have three fights in that year. It could be a big year for Ryan,” said De La Hoya.
“I think Devin Haney is a special fighter. Devin Haney knows how to figure out his opponents. Prograis, 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, be patient, use his reach and distance, and doesn’t care what the crowd says.
“That’s crucial to any fighter. When you’re on top of the ring, and you’re hearing boos from everybody, a lot of fighters start panicking and changing up their game plan, then they make mistakes.
“Shakur Stevenson doesn’t care. It hurts you in other ways in terms of popularity and fans, but all they care about is winning inside the ring. I have no idea who is representing Haney. I’ll have my people look into it.
“But we’re going to sit down with Ryan Garcia, and he’s expressed a lot of interest in fighting Rolly. If that’s the fight they want, if that’s the fight that we have to negotiate, 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,” said De La Hoya.
If the social media star Ryan’s main focus is on grabbing money before his earning potential evaporates, he needs to listen to promoter Eddie Hearn and take the fight with Haney. That’s where Ryan will make the most revenue, and if he’s going to lose anyway, it’s better to take the Haney fight rather than Rolly.
