Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) does not have the heart of a fighter anymore, according to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero’s (17-2, 13 KOs) former trainer Bullet Cromwell.
The pre-2024 Garcia was a different animal, drawing crowds with his sensational performances and an undying fire of love for the sport of boxing. However, following his controversial fight against Devin Haney and his subsequent yearlong ban, Garcia’s passion for boxing has taken a plunge. And now, with a rather disappointing performance against Romero under his belt, Garcia’s lack of engagement during the fight seems to have ticked Cromwell.
Talking to FightHype, Cromwell delved into the reasons behind Garcia’s devastating loss to Romero.
“Ryan is not a dog. He’s a good talent, he’s not a dog, and he doesn’t have any heart. Once you take his heart, it’s over. And I’m sad to say because he’s a good fighter, but some fighters just don’t have it. They don’t have that heart,” he said.
The fight saw an extremely mellow and muted version of Garcia, who was actively trying to avoid heat inside the ring. He was also hesitant to throw punches despite being subject to a volley of heavy hits from Romero.
Cromwell mentioned that Garcia looked “scared to engage” well before his second knockout. Meanwhile, he was all praise for his former ward’s performance, stating that Romero brought in a lot of heart and was patient enough to wait for the right time to attack.
“Rolly is a dog, and he has a heart. He just has to wait for the timing and the experience. With 35 amateur fights, I took Rolly on and made him a champion, a two-time world champion,” he said.
“I Don’t Care”
Garcia’s loss to Romero was a major disruption to his future fight plans. He had, in fact, planned to have his long-anticipated rematch against Haney following his (then potential) victory against Romero. While Rolly empathized with him, he believes he does not have to worry about being the damper of his opponent’s plans.
“I can look someone in the eye and know if they’re going through a nightmare. As a human, you can’t kick someone who’s already on the ground,” he said while talking to the LA Times. “I don’t care about the plans he had; I only care about mine. They had all those plans. It’s not my problem, and I don’t care.”
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