By: Sean Crose
This could be a good one. Ryan Garcia, fresh off his first defeat – which came courtesy the gloved fists of Gervonta Davis last month – is looking for a title shot against Rolando “Rolly” Romero, who himself just recently won the WBA junior welterweight belt against Ismael Barroso. Like Garcia, Romero has been defeated only once – and, like Garcia, that was to Davis. What’s more, both men are exciting fighters with colorful personalities. Indeed, Romero stated he was interested in pitting himself against Garcia after he defeated Barroso. While admitting he’d love to rematch Davis, Romero said that “I want to go after Ryan Garcia. We can do it on Showtime PPV.”
Romero’s wish may come true, as Garcia put the following up on social media Saturday: “Okay rollies you asked for it Let’s get it. This one is for barroso (sic).” With that being said, there’s no doubt there will be challenges to getting this bout made. First off, both men fight under different banners, Golden Boy and PBC respectively. That means things like network affiliations and rematch clauses would likely come into play during negations. Still, Garcia and Davis fought under the opposing Golden Boy and PBC banners, and their much hoped for match was able to become a reality. Sometimes the potential rewards that come with a fight of this nature (huge pay per view numbers and attention) make the challenges worth surmounting.
Besides, if both men prove to really want this fight, then the fight will happen. Davis and Garcia proved that by essentially willing their superfight into being. In truth, it’s hard to tell who might be favored walking in, should Garcia-Romero become a reality. Garcia was recently knocked out by Davis, after all, but he’s hard hitting, confident and has a new trainer in Derek James. Romero, on the other hand, won his title in controversial fashion when he stopped Barroso in the seventh round. Even Romero himself admitted the fight should have been allowed to go on longer. In other words, this ring pairing may prove to be a toss up.
The danger that comes with such a fight is that the loser will likely no longer be considered a top level fighter in the division. Boxing is finally coming back around to the fact that a single loss doesn’t necessarily end a career. One can only imagine how hard it is to earn back people’s estees after two losses. Yet boxing consists of nothing if it doesn’t consist of risks – and both Garcia and Romero don’t come across as safety first fighters. Whatever else can be said about them, these two individuals seem to possess the willingness to dare to be great…something that’s always nice to see in the fight game, as well as sports in general.