Ryan Garcia breaks silence after Rolando Romero loss with heartfelt statement: "I'm devastated"

Ryan Garcia has had some time to reflect on his loss to Rolando Romero, which came as a shock to both him and the boxing community at large. In a recent tweet, Garcia shared more in-depth thoughts on the matchup, which featured one of the poorest performances from him to date.

According to Garcia, there were countless unseen battles he fought, figuratively of course, to secure the bout. In particular, his 2024 campaign in boxing was largely defined by controversy. This was to be a redemption arc for Garcia, but it went up in flames before it could ever truly begin. He wrote on X:

"First want to thank God for everything in every situation, I couldn't do it tonight, I'm devastated and really sad that I fought the way i did. I just didn't have it tonight felt off. I fought a lot to get here, as you know what I went thru [sic] last year was something a lot of people don't come back from. So I can see a victory for me in that. Congratulations to Rollies, Hell of a dude and great hearted person wish you nothing but the best. I love you all and thank you for everything."

It was a standard statement from Garcia, who has only ever lost twice but always pins his shortcomings on not feeling like himself on fight night. The loss to Romero, though, was due more to Garcia's own limitations as a boxer. From a skill standpoint, he has little more than a left hook.

However, because of his speed and power, he has been able to walk through lesser opponents. Romero's response to it was simply to keep his right hand up, blocking Garcia's left hook. Without being able to land his left hook, Garcia was out of ideas.

He tried to be more aggressive but was knocked down for his troubles. Thereafter, he shelled up and threw little else besides jabs.

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Ryan Garcia lost yet another world title opportunity

Despite his popularity, Ryan Garcia has never been a true, non-interim world champion. He once held the WBC interim lightweight title, but his two attempts at capturing a major world championship ended in disaster. Garcia's first chance came against Devin Haney for the WBC super lightweight belt.

Check out Rolando Romero dropping Ryan Garcia:

Unfortunately for Garcia, he missed weight and rendered himself ineligible to claim the title. He initially won the bout via majority decision before a positive ostarine test led to the result being overturned. Then, against Rolando Romero, he simply lost in the ring via unanimous decision for the WBA (Regular) welterweight title.