Trainer Greg Hackett suspects that Ryan Garcia looked so poor in his loss to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero last Friday night because he wasn’t on “Ostarine.” Hackett says that without that PED in Garcia’s system, he returned to his “natural self,” which he calls a “Housecat.” Garcia looked terrified of Romero after being dropped, and never seemed to regain his confidence after that episode.

(Credit: Geoffrey Knott/Matchroom)

Rolly (17-2, 13 KOs) defeated Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision in a welterweight contest in their headliner at Times Square in New York City. Ryan used Romero, 29, as a tune-up opponent to prepare him for his mega-fight rematch with Devin Haney in October. Fans saw the Garcia-Romero fight as a foregone conclusion that Ryan would win easily.

“Petrified All the Way”

The defeat may have derailed plans for a rematch between Garcia and Haney. Turki Alalshikh hasn’t said whether he’ll go through with the fight for October. If it’s just about mindless junk food entertainment, he might as well go ahead with the fight.

Nothing changes. That fight would always be a celebrity-level match-up between fighters not capable of winning world titles at 147. Just a couple of fighters had been well-matched throughout their careers and marketed to the hilt by promoters.

“Ryan was petrified all the way through, especially after he got caught. After he got back up, he still let Rolly know, ‘I’m still here, but I’m not going to do too much,’” said trainer Greg Hackett to YSM Sports Media about Ryan Garcia in his loss to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero last Friday night at Times Square. “He [Garcia] wasn’t confident because every time he shot a right, Rolly stepped out of range, and wouldn’t let him get that right hand off.”

Garcia looked very afraid of throwing punches after he was knocked down by a double left hook from Rolando in round two. That knockdown sapped all the fight out of Ryan, leaving the scared-looking fighter that fans saw for the remainder of the 12-round contest. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. The thing is, Rolly didn’t start gaining confidence until the second half of the fight. When he saw that Ryan wasn’t throwing, he started walking him down, loading up on single shots and jabs.

“You could tell that Rolly is strong as a mother f****. Hold on. I’m moving too fast,” said Hackett. “The Ostarine, baby. It wasn’t there…That was the same behavior from Ryan his whole camp [for Devin Haney fight],” said Hackett, comparing Ryan Garcia’s angry, amped-up behavior in the lead up to the Haney fight to a movie character of a football player that was on PEDs and acting berserk.

Ryan’s physique and level of aggression were different for the Rolly fight compared to the Haney bout last year. He looked more muscular against Devin, and he was like a caged, angry tiger inside the ring that night. Garcia was going after Haney, showing no respect for his punches and throwing shots with 100% full power. Haney was as scared of Ryan as he was of Rolly.

“Get in there with Devin Haney, he tried to take his head off. He didn’t care what was coming his way. His confidence level was through the roof. Where was that the other night? We didn’t see none of it,” said Hackett about Ryan Garcia lacking the same aggression against Rolly that he had in his fight with Haney.

Even in round one, Ryan didn’t look aggressive and seemed worried about the power of Romero. The few shots Rolly landed in the round made Garcia wary of mixing it up with him. He felt his power and realized that this was a different animal than what he’d been fighting in the past at 135.

“Natural Self” Exposed?

“The same guy that we saw with the body frame and everything. We didn’t see none of that,” said Hackett. “You got that much respect for Rolly? No. His [Kingry] natural self is a housecat. He is. His natural self isn’t the guy that is going to say, ‘What the f***.What the f*** he think he is? Let me go pick up.’ [Trainer] Derek James is on his tippy toes, screaming. ‘Come on, baby. Pick it up. You got to give me something. We’re in the last three rounds. You got to make it happen.’ He said, ‘Find something.’ He wouldn’t do it because we have too many businessmen and not enough fighters.”

The version of Ryan we saw against Haney may never exist again. That was a rare one-off performance by him, because he’d never looked that impressive in any of his fights. Garcia was like Superman that night. Now, he’s returned to his former self and is not equipped to deal with welterweights with power.

Unless something changes with Ryan, his career is over. He should take the Haney cash-out fight and consider retiring if he loses. If victorious, target a rematch with Gervonta Davis to get another giant payday that will help cushion his retirement years.

“As long as these [boxers] are getting tested and stay away from performance-enhancing drugs, we’re going to get fights like this. We’re going to start seeing who’s the real dog,” said Hackett.