On May 2, 2025, Rolly Romero defeated Ryan Garcia to win the WBA interim welterweight title, defeating Garcia by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 115-112, 118-109, and 115-112. Many criticised “Kingry,” but Rolly did what he had to do and outworked his opponent. After that win, Rolly was elevated to full champion following Jaron Ennis’ decision to move up to super welterweight.
Garcia has since won a world title, defeating Mario Barrios. That has still left Romero unimpressed, who took to social media to criticise Garcia for ducking him.
Rolly Romero fires ducking claim at Ryan Garcia
Taking to his X account, Rolly Romero did not hold back on his view of Ryan Garcia: “Ryan is the biggest coward in boxing. Ducked our rematch clause, when we had the entire deal, purses, venue, splits done. He gets scared and decides to fight a complete weight drained Barrios. He only wants to fight pillow fisted bums.”
The welterweight division
The welterweight division has the potential for some interesting bouts and unification fights in the future. Lewis Crocker is the current IBF title holder and will be flying high after two impressive wins against Padd Donovan. He was due to face Liam Paro before a hand injury postponed those plans.
As mentioned, Ryan Garcia won his WBC belt against Barrios, and the WBO belt is held by Devin Haney, who produced an impressive performance, defeating Brian Norman Jr.
If we were to wave a magic wand, Garcia vs Haney 2 would be one wish. It looks likely to be Romero vs Shakhram Giyasov, but a unification between Haney and Rolly could also happen, with Rolly being asked on X about facing Haney, and saying: “He likes to sue people when he loses. But I’d knock him out cold. Let’s make it happen.”
