By: Sean Crose
This could be a good one. Ryan Garcia, who suffered his first defeat – coming from a gloved punch from Gervonta Davis last month – is looking for a title against Rolando “Rolly” Romero, who just won the WBA junior weight belt against Ismael Barroso. Like Garcia, Romero was defeated only once – and like Garcia, that was before Davis. Moreover, both men are interesting warriors with colorful personalities. Indeed, Romero says he wants to be pitted against Garcia after he beats Barroso. While admitting he wants a rematch with Davis, Romero said that “I want to go after Ryan Garcia. We can do it on Showtime PPV.”
Romero’s wish could come true, as Garcia posted the following on social media on Saturday: “Okay, you’ve requested. Let’s take it. This one is for barroso (sic). With that said, there are bound to be challenges to making this match. First of all, both men fight under different banners, Golden Boy and PBC respectively. That means things like networking and rematch terms will likely come into play in the negation process. However, Garcia and Davis fought under the banners of the opposing Golden Boy and PBC, and much of their duel hopes may have come true. Sometimes the potential rewards that come with a fight of this nature (huge pay-per-view and attention) make the challenges worth overcoming.
Besides, if both men show that they really want this fight, then the fight will happen. Davis and Garcia proved it basically by their super battle readiness. In fact, it’s hard to say who will be given priority to step in, if Garcia-Romero becomes a reality. After all, Garcia was recently knocked out by Davis, but he’s tough, confident and has a new coach in Derek James. On the other hand, Romero won his title in controversial fashion by stopping Barroso in the seventh inning. Even Romero himself admitted the match should have been allowed to go on longer. In other words, this pair of rings could prove to be a bounce.
The danger that comes with such a fight is that the loser may no longer be seen as the highest level fighter in the division. Boxing is finally back to the fact that a loss doesn’t necessarily end a career. One can only imagine how difficult it is to regain people’s trust after two losses. However, boxing is nothing if it doesn’t carry risks – and neither Garcia nor Romero are seen as safety-priority fighters. Whatever else can be said about them, these two individuals seem to possess a willingness to dare to be great…which is always interesting to see in fighting games, as well as sports in general.
