Ryan Garcia believes Devin Haney will lose to WBA welterweight champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero if he fights the same timid way he did against Jose Ramirez.
Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) and his father, Bill, have been pushing for the unification fight against Rolly (17-2, 13 KOs) all week since losing the WBO belt from Norman Jr. won on November 22.
Rolly’s power changes everything
Ryan says that Haney will “run the whole battle.” He may be right, as Rolly is too powerful to get pinned more than 10 times per round like Haney did in his ugly, empowered win over Brian Norman Jr.
The idea is to relieve the erratic, flawed, sometimes chinny Romero of his WBA belt. Then come to the negotiating table with Kingry (24-2, 20 KOs) in a position of power to get a bigger purse of the spoils.
Garcia still holds all the leverage
I doubt two ties will be enough for Haney to get the bigger share of the pie against the more popular Ryan or even a 50-50 deal. Bill must feel that it is worth trying. If it backfires on him with Rolly knocking out Haney, Bill is going to kick himself afterwards and get laughed at by the fans for leading Devin in this match.
Let’s face it, Haney didn’t look that good in his 12-round unanimous decision over Norman Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs). That fight was hard to watch with all the holding Devin was doing, and how mentally lost Norman Jr. was. wash. Choose your poison.
Both fighters were absolutely awful. Norman Jr. didn’t want to take chances on being dropped again after taking a second round hit. And Haney was his usual self, holding back, not engaging, and fighting like a guy who had confidence in his chin.
If I were Devin’s dad, I would even consider him fighting Rolly. He hits too hard, and he’d like an old, rusty land mine that’s been buried in the ground for 40+ years. It can still go off if messed with. Haney can only wait for the smoke to clear from Ryan’s fight with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on February 21, 2026.
Chances are Garcia will win, and Devin could fight him afterwards. If he loses, that’s the problem. It still wouldn’t be the end of the world. As long as Garcia doesn’t disappear for a year or get busted for a PED, he can quickly return, hit a ham and egg, and then face Haney. The fight wouldn’t be as enticing as it would have been, but the game lost a lot of the appeal it would have had.
The problem Devin can’t fix
Things can’t get too much worse than they are now. Haney has looked so bad in his last two fights that the performances are considered losses in the truest sense. The only people who enjoyed it were Haney fans or those who like to watch excessive hitting. They call it ‘Smart Boxing’. Unfortunately for Devin, there aren’t many of them. So, his stock has dropped like a rock since his fight with Ryan.
“How do you think Devin does against a puncher like Rolly? I feel he runs the whole fight,” says Ryan Garcia Battle hypequestioned how Devin Haney would fare if he were to fight Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero in a unification bout at welterweight.
Why Rolly Devin would step down
It would be a mistake on Haney’s part not to run against Romero because he doesn’t have the size or the power to destroy him that way. Rolly is too powerful to be nullified by holding, and he’s not going to slack off and allow Devin to hold without bludgeoning him with a free arm.
Norman Jr. fought Haney like a rookie and never adjusted. Rolly would have an entire camp to prepare for Haney’s holding tactics. That will leave him with one option, and that is to run all night like he did against Jose Ramirez.
Devin’s running won’t save him here
“No, I don’t think he (Haney) knocks (Rolly) down. But if the same fighter that (Jose) Ramirez fought shows up, I don’t even think he wins. He (Rolando) was definitely more patient with me because if he got caught, it would have been trouble,” Ryan said.
“I want to see him fight Devin Haney. Why don’t you fight him? It’s a vacant belt. So, why don’t you just fight him. I don’t think he (Haney) likes that style matchup,” Garcia said of his belief that Rolly has the wrong style for Devin. “The Haneys love to get the belts. Why don’t you call Rolly? If it’s that easy, go get it.”
Last updated on 30/11/2025
