NEW YORK – The expectation is that Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are headed to a fall rematch after proving themselves Friday night in Times Square against former world champions who aren’t what they used to be.

The beauty of being former WBA 140lbs champion Rolly Romero is knowing there’s another ticking alternative ending.

Dismissing Romero, 16-2 (13 KOs), because of his 2022 knockout loss to Gervonta Davis – something that his Friday opponent Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), also experienced one year later – and his title stoppage defeat versus Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz last year doesn’t take into account what has happened since.

First, is the comfort he gains by moving up to welterweight and moving past the draining effects of prior weight cuts. Second is his enriched experience training for several months under the superb eye of Cuban trainer Ismail Salas in Las Vegas. Third is the confidence Romero insists he still carries from years-ago sparring sessions with Garcia.

“Oh, I don't care about people’s perception of anything,” Romero told BoxingScene in an exclusive interview. “I just wanna beat the shit out of [Garcia]. That's the only thing I care about. I don't really care how people feel, whether they paint me as the good guy or the bad guy. At the end of all this stuff is a boxing fight and everything is just speculation until that fucking happens.”

Romero responded to the Cruz loss in March 2024 by defeating contender Manuel Jaimes by unanimous decision in September. In December at the WBA convention in Florida, he told BoxingScene he was back in the gym with Salas, and he’s effectively remained there, flashing sharpened skill to complement the deep praise from Davis as the most powerful puncher he’s ever confronted.

In another unexpected claim that belies Romero’s occasional aloof behavior, Brad Goodman, a Hall of Fame matchmaker for Top Rank, adds that Romero is one of the most sincerely dedicated students of the game in today’s sport. 

“I enjoy training,” Romero said, “Like, what am I supposed to do? Sit at home and do absolutely nothing – like, bro, like it is boring, and Vegas is boring as it is. What should I do? Go to a bunch of fancy restaurants? I go out and say, ‘OK, what are you doing?’ I don't like being at home by myself. So I’m like, ‘OK well, what am I gonna do?’ Go work out, you know.”

The preparation brings him to Garcia, who has tempered his behavior after a turbulent camp last year filled with wild behavior and social-media posts that led him to come in overweight before what was supposed to be a title shot at WBC 140lbs champion Haney.

Garcia posted a non-title majority decision victory by knocking down Haney three times with his left hook. The triumph was ruined by Garcia’s three positive post-fight test results for the banned performance-enhancing drug Ostarine, and the New York State Athletic Commission converted the outcome to a no-contest and suspended Garcia for one year.

Garcia was first going to fight Cruz, but the Mexican former champion was in the midst of preparing for a winter bout and backed out. Romero called Garcia to request the fight and landed it.

Romero wasn’t all that impressed by Garcia’s showing versus Haney.

“It was a horrible performance,” Romero said. “[Garcia] lost every single round with the exception of the ones he dropped [Haney]. He was sloppy. He got hurt, too, by a guy that can't crack an egg. I wonder why they keep bringing up [Garcia’s]  performance and all this stuff. Even if it's not that he did a horrible job, he wasn't a professional. He didn't make weight. He didn't prepare like he should. So, why are they talking about his performance?”

Romero takes heart from prior sparring sessions against Garcia, when the fighters in their younger 20s engaged in action that intensified talk of pitting the best fighters of rival former-champion promoters Oscar De La Hoya (Garcia) versus Floyd Mayweather Jnr (Romero),

It didn’t happen then. It will now.

Romero said his confidence comes “from that time … . Everyone wants to go to this new person he is. He's the same as he was.

“If I go inside, I can beat the shit out of him. Or I can box and beat him, no matter what y'all think. He punches hard. I punch harder.”

The pressure of executing as the contrarian here, or spoiling the planned Garcia-Haney fall rematch is a heavy burden. 

Romero maintains he’s up to it after enduring a hardened youth in Las Vegas.

“I’ve experienced the worst bullies in the world,” he said. “It’s nothing, just another day to me. I know what hell is. I've seen things all the other people have never seen.”

That self-confidence keeps Romero away from an entourage. He’s distributed his three VIP tickets to Friday’s bout to his mom, sister and niece.

“I don't need anyone to pay attention to me, I'm always by myself,” he said. “All these people with 30, 40, 50 people around them … I mean, it's just me at the end of this. Just big ol’ me. I don't need nobody to boost me up or any of that stuff, so going to the fight if everyone’s against me … they can have everyone around them. But in the fight, it’s just me and the other guy, nobody else.

“It’s not that I make it me against the world. It’s me versus me. And I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.