Ryan Garcia's rematch with Devin Haney isn't happening. Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia's promoter, decided to cancel the fight after Garcia lost to Rolando Romero last month.
The two fighters first met in April 2024 at the Barclays Center in New York. Garcia won on points, but the result was later changed to a no contest when he failed a drug test. This led to a 12-month suspension for Garcia.
Both fighters returned to the ring last month in Times Square, New York. While Haney won his fight, Garcia didn't fare as well. He lost to Romero by unanimous decision and even got knocked down during the bout.
De La Hoya spoke to FightHype about his decision to scrap the Haney rematch:
"No, that's not the direction we want to go [Haney rematch]. Zero [interest] whatsoever. So I'm actually going to sit down with Ryan, I sat down with him already, and he's in great spirits, we're actually looking forward to the future and we're just going to nail down exactly what the plans are going to be and put it in play."
Instead of a rematch with Haney, De La Hoya thinks Garcia should try to get even with Romero. He explained his reasoning:
"Well as a fighter, speaking to you as a fighter, not a promoter, that's exactly what I would do right? So that would be the right move for him I think, go get revenge and you know in boxing you're as good as your last fight so might as well go."
With the Garcia rematch off the table, Haney will look for a different opponent. He wants to get back on track to become a world champion again. There's talk of a possible fight with Teofimo Lopez, but it would need to be at a catchweight or the 147-pound welterweight limit.
Garcia's return fight against Rolando 'Rolly' Romero in Times Square, New York, turned out to be a major setback. Now, he'll have to rethink his path forward in the boxing world.
