Superstar Ryan Garcia has switched gears, changing his mind about fighting WBC light champion Devin Haney, choosing instead to face the more charismatic WBA champ Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero for his next fight.
Ryan’s rationale for choosing Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs) over Haney was due to his belief that facing Romero is a “bigger fight, bigger business.”
As most fans know, Haney’s leaked PPV buys for his last fight against Regis Prograis was a paltry 50K on DAZN last December. With those low numbers, Haney isn’t worth fighting; i.e., Ryan Garcia would be doing him a favor by fighting him rather than the other way around.
Garcia’s Message: Bigger Fight, Bigger Business
Ryan said this message today on social media: “I’ve notified my team I’m going a different route. My intent now is to fight Rolando Romero. I pray my team backs me on this decision. Oscar [De La Hoya], make this fight happen. THAT’S THE MOVE. BIGGER FIGHT, BIGGER BUSINESS. #GarciaRomero.
“After what happens to Rollies, the Devin Haney fight will be there and even bigger. Everyone is critiquing now. Will end up seeing it was a better move. Plus, he can go fight Richardson Hitchins. Go do your 30k PPV buys. I don’t need you, Devin. You need me,” said Ryan Garcia on Twitter.
The Rationale Behind the Switch
Well, you knew this would happen to Haney after Dan Rafael and Rick Glaser leaked his poor PPV numbers for his fight with Prograis on December 9th.
Once Haney’s horrible PPV numbers were revealed, there was no point in Ryan wasting his time fighting him because all the buys for a fight between them would be coming from Kingry’s 11 million Instagram followers.
Haney would be coming along for the ride, just a belt holder with no fanbase. Devin would be hitching a ride on Ryan’s coattails, just the cardboard prop in the marketing of the fight.
Rolly has a comedian, actor-like quality about him, and his trash-talking will help the promotion with Ryan Garcia. He’s not someone who is dependent on his dad to do all the talking for him, like Haney is with his father, Bill.
Since Haney lacks personality, his dad is the one who promotes his fights outside of the ring and builds his matches with his soundbites.
If Ryan were to fight Haney, it would have a lackluster promotion because Bill would be the talker and the sunglass, golden chain-wearing Devin just there in body only, occasionally parroting what his dad says. In other words, just utterly useless for promotional purposes.
