Ryan Garcia suffered a shock points loss to Rolando Romero at New York’s iconic Times Square, scuppering a planned rematch with Devin Haney.
American Garcia, 26, was dropped in the second round by a left hook and outboxed in large parts of the welterweight bout.
Underdog Romero, 29, was deservedly awarded a unanimous decision with scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 118-109.
“He fought a good fight; caught me early. No excuses, man. Congrats to him – he did a great job,” Garcia said.
Garcia was competing for the first time since serving a one-year doping ban after testing positive for banned substance ostarine following his victory over Haney in April 2024, which was overturned into a no-contest.
“A whole year took a lot of my body physically and mentally,” Garcia said, adding that he would now go “back to the drawing board”.
Earlier, Haney, 26, kept his side of the bargain with a unanimous yet underwhelming win against fellow American Jose Carlos Ramirez.
Haney boxed on the back foot as neither fighter threw anything of note in a forgettable 12-round contest.
In the performance of the night, American two-weight world champion Teofimo Lopez defended his WBO light-welterweight title with a stylish points win over compatriot Arnold Barboza Jr.
Haney underwhelms before Garcia fails
After a year lay-off, an overly cautious Haney, who was dropped three times by Garcia last year, never really got going in a below-par showing.
He circled around the ring, landing the occasional lead left hook, but neglected his jab as single shots did enough to edge the rounds.
Defensively, it was a sound performance by Haney, largely because gun-shy Ramirez did so little.
The judges scored it 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110.
The bout was best summed up by Scotland’s former undisputed light-welterweight world champion Josh Taylor, who said on social media that Haney looked “terrified” and “frantic”.
Haney-Ramirez sapped the ‘Big Apple’ of its energy and vibe but the early drama in the headline bout lifted the mood.Romero landed a stinging double left hook to floor Garcia.
It was a flush and hurtful punch which he later followed with a clubbing right before Garcia regained his senses.
With both fighters unwilling to over-commit, Romero edged the rounds with better use of the jab, coupled with Garcia’s tentativeness.
“Get busy,” trainer Derrick James pleaded with Garcia before the championship rounds.
The pep talk had no impact as Romero landed a combination to head and body in the 11th.
Haney, now ringside, was left shaking his head at the final bell.
