Next week Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero will face off on the same card as Devin Haney vs Jose Ramirez.
Ryan Garcia will return to boxing after a suspension from the sport following his win-turned-no-contest over Devin Haney last year.
He will face 16-2 Rolly Romero, who, after losing to Gervonta Davis, controversially stopped Ismael Barroso to win the world title, before losing it to Isaac Cruz.
Garcia has been haunted by sparring footage of him and Romero, in which the spar does not go in Garcia’s favor.
Ryan Garcia seeks revenge on former sparring partner Rolly Romero
For years footage has circulated of Garcia and Romero’s spar, but the pair have spoken on it in a face-off ahead of their fight next week.
In the footage, Garcia can be seen being roughed up by Romero, with Garcia, who scored two first-round KOs ahead of his world title fight, saying of the video:
“It’s one of those things that’s just never left my career, you know, no matter what I did they’re just always running that. So I’m happy this fight’s finally happening.”
Romero agreed, stating the fight is: “Long, long overdue.”
When asked if the footage bothered him, Garcia, who also lost to Davis, said: “100% it’s bothered me. Not so much like recently but when I was first coming up.”
The spar happened over eight years ago, and both fighters have improved a great deal since then.
Rolly Romero was stopped in sparring himself by rising prospect
In 2023, a clip went viral on social media of Romero getting stopped in sparring by a 3-0 prospect.
J’Hon Ingram, 3-0 at the time, slumped Romero in the sparring footage with a short left hook, before standing over him menacingly as he lay on the canvas.
Ingram has since moved to 6-0 with four wins by KO.