Rolly Romero scores early knockdown, upsets Ryan Garcia

Ryan Garcia’s first fight back was a catastrophe.

On Friday night, Garcia returned to action for the first time since his suspension following his epic win-turned-no-contest over Devin Haney in 2024, taking on Rolando Romero in the main event of the fight card dubbed “Fatal Fury: City of Wolves.” The fight was supposed to be a setup bout for Garcia’s rematch with Haney, until Rolly Romero decided to play spoiler.

A massive underdog heading into the bout, Romero looked to be the better and more confident fighter, flummoxing Garcia for most of the fight and scoring a knockdown in the second round over “King Ryan.” From there, Romero never looked back, mixing in power shots and slowing the pace of the fight to a crawl. In the end, the bout resulted in third-lowest total of punches thrown in a 12-round fight ever, and Romero took a clear decision win with scorecards of 115-112, 115-112, and 118-109 .

After the fight, Garcia applauded Romero’s performance in a show of good sportsmanship.

“He fought a good fight, caught me early,” Garcia said. “No excuses. Congratulations to him, he fought a good fight, and that’s that. ...

“I just think that whole year took a lot off my body physically and mentally,” Garcia added. “I’m just happy I made it to the ring and went 12 rounds.”

Romero was humble in victory, and though he officially may have setback the Garcia-Haney rematch, Romero was quick to suggest he’d still like to see the two of them run things back anyway.

“I ain’t even thinking about what’s next,” Romero said. “I think Devin and Ryan should get their rematch and make a big one.”

Considering Haney’s dreadful performance in his win over Jose Ramirez earlier in the night, it’s possible that’s exactly what happens.