A confusing chapter in recent boxing history ended on Thursday when an agreement was finalized for WBA super lightweight champion Rolando Romero to defend his belt against Isaac Cruz on March 30 in Las Vegas. The Premier Boxing Champions card will be streamed on pay-per-view on Amazon Prime Video, the first event in the PBC's deal with Amazon Prime.
The Romero-Cruz fight will be the co-main event to the Tim Tszyu-Keith Thurman super welterweight title bout. Garcia is expected to fight in a pay-per-view bout on April 20 in Las Vegas against an opponent to be named.
The confusion began in December when super lightweight contender Ryan Garcia, who is extremely active on social media, said he wanted to fight Devin Haney a few days after Haney had defeated Regis Prograis to win the WBC super lightweight title. Talks began to make that bout, which would have been a significant pay-per-view event.
Suddenly, Garcia posted photos of himself with Floyd Mayweather, the legendary Hall of Fame boxer whose promotional company, Mayweather Promotions, works closely with Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions. Then, Garcia shocked everything by saying a deal couldn't be reached with Haney and that he'd instructed his team to talk to Romero about a fight.
Romero is with the PBC.
As talks advanced to make that fight, Cruz advisor Sean Gibbons told KevinIole.com that Cruz wanted to face Garcia, and he made the case that a Garcia-Cruz fight would be a great bout. Garcia had once called out Cruz.
Then, Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Garcia, signed former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez. Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya then put out on social media he was attempting to make Garcia-Romero. Garcia, who is in a lawsuit with Golden Boy, shot that down and said he wasn't fight Romero.
On Wednesday, Garcia tweeted that he was close to a deal with Romero, only for ESPN on Thursday to report that sources indicated that Romero would fight Cruz on PPV on March 30. KevinIole.com quickly confirmed that on the record with Gibbons.
"This is the biggest and best fight that could be put together at this time for Isaac Cruz Jr.," Gibbons said. "We attempted to make the Ryan Garcia fight, but it could not be made. Rolly Romero has a fun, exciting style. He likes to fight. Isaac likes to fight and the fans will be the winners here with guys with these styles. Somebody's getting knocked out."
Garcia then deleted the tweet about the Romero fight and put out another explain his side of the story.
Look I was informed the deal was finalizing and it would be announced in the coming days.
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) January 25, 2024
Obviously That was a lie.
My patience has been tested the last few weeks. I’m trying my best to be as honest and real as I can to you guys.
I’ll be looking forward to announcing my…
As it turns out, Romero (15-1, 13 KOs) against Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs) should be a bombs away slugfest for as long as it lasts.
There is speculation that the Garcia-Haney talks could be revived, but Garcia advisor Lupe Valencia would not discuss any potential opponents.
"At this point, we're planning to announce a big fight on April 20 on pay-per-view, but I don't think we're in a position as I sit here today to say what that's going to be," Valencia said. "We've had that date reserved for Ryan for a while now, and I hope in a couple of weeks we can announce his next fight."