Rolando Romero disrupts Ryan Garcia's plans in massive upset - ESPN

NEW YORK — What was supposed to be a memorable event Friday night in Times Square ended up a forgettable one that lacked action and left boxing fans unfulfilled.

The plan was for Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney to win their respective fights and meet for a highly anticipated rematch later this year. Haney held up his end of the bargain, albeit with a lackluster decision, but Rolando «Rolly» Romero played the role of disruptor, pulling off a massive upset of Garcia by unanimous decision (115-112, 115-112, 118-109) to cap the underwhelming night of fights.

In the main event, Garcia's return to boxing after a one-year suspension for failing a drug test after his April 2024 fight with Haney was a disaster. Garcia (24-2, 1 NC) entered the fight as a -1000 favorite on ESPN BET. However, he wasn't able to uncork his trademark left hook or mount any significant offense in the 12-round affair.

Instead, Romero (17-2) set the tone early and dropped Garcia with a left hook in Round 2. Although Garcia didn't appear hurt, the knockdown altered the course of the fight as he went from eager to timid for the rest of the fight. Neither fighter seemed to be interested in letting his hands go, with a combined 123 punches landed out of a total of 490 punches thrown. The output was the third-lowest in CompuBox history for a 12-round fight, even below the 503 punches Haney and Jose Ramirez combined to throw in the co-main event.

«He fought a good fight,» Garcia said afterward. «He caught me early. No excuses, man. Congrats to him. He did a great job, and that's it.»

Garcia popped the jab, but Romero was patient and kept his distance. It was a surprising performance by Romero, who was two fights removed from being stopped by Isaac Cruz in 2024.