US boxer Ryan Garcia was knocked down once on the way to a unanimous decision defeat to Rolly Romero in his return from a doping suspension in a welterweight bout held in New York’s iconic Times Square on Friday.
The defeat threw Garcia’s planned rematch with Devin Haney in doubt, although Haney did his part with a unanimous decision victory over Jose Ramirez in the outdoor ring erected for the event.
Romero sent Garcia to the canvas in the second round with a pair of left hooks and dominated the rest of the fight. Two judges gave it to Romero 115-112 and the third scored it 118-109.
In April of last year, Ryan knocked down Haney three times on the way to a decision victory, but that result was wiped out and the bout declared a no-contest after it was revealed Garcia failed a pre-fight drug test.
In June Garcia was arrested for reportedly causing some $15,000 worth of damage at a hotel in Beverly Hills and a month later he was suspended from World Boxing Council events for making racist comments on social media.
He had planned a New Year’s exhibition against kickboxing champion Rukiya Anpo, but that fell through when Garcia suffered a wrist injury in training.
Romero handed Garcia his second professional defeat against 24 victories — 20 by way of knockout.
“I just think that whole year (off) took a lot off my body physically, mentally,” Garcia said.
“I’m just happy I made it to the ring and went 12 rounds. Hats off to Rolly … just got to go to the drawing board with my team. We’ll talk it over and see what we do next.”
Haney, meanwhile, improved to 32-0 with a dominant victory, two judges scoring it 119-109 for Haney and the third seeing it 118-110.
