Ryan Garcia and Rolando Romero may be ready to leave their viral sparring session in the past, but that doesn’t mean they’ve settled all of their differences.

The two will meet this Friday in a 12-round welterweight fight this Friday in New York’s Times Square, with a secondary WBA belt at stake. 

Romero, who used the attention gained from that video to boost his career, knew the day would come when they met in the ring for an actual fight.

“This fight was destined to happen. I called it. I knew it was gonna be at 147 pounds and be one of the biggest fights in boxing history. Look at this,” said Romero, 16-2 (13 KOs).

Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), has a lot to prove heading into the fight. The fight will be his first since his controversial 2024 meeting with Devin Haney, when he knocked Haney down three times and initially won a majority decision, only for the verdict to be overturned when he failed a series of performance enhancing drugs tests.

Instead of focusing on rehashing their past, Garcia touted his technical advantages over Romero. 

“I’m gonna take control of the fight right away. I have to control the ring. He’s not a better boxer than me, but he’s gonna try to do things to make me uncomfortable. Ring generalship is my best friend when I step into the ring,” said Garcia.

“I retired Luke Campbell, I retired Javier Fortuna, and I’m about to retire Rolly and be done with these dudes. Whenever I get a feeling about retiring someone, I just know it. I know once I knock him out, he’s done.”

For this fight, Garcia has brought back Derrick James, the trainer who is best known for guiding Errol Spence to the unified welterweight championship. While some were skeptical about how long the union would last, Garcia says they have meshed together well.

“Derrick’s style is all technique. He’s not worried about flash and that’s the perfect person for me. I’ve already got the speed and I’ve got the power that I can turn on. We’re like yin and yang, we’re the perfect combination,” said Garcia.