Rolly Romero scores knockdown in decision win over Ryan Garcia in Times Square
Rolly Romero spoiled Ryan Garcia's return to action.
In the headlining bout of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves in the heart of New York's Times Square, Romero (17-2) turned in a solid performance against Garcia (24-2), including scoring the only knockdown of the fight, to win on the scorecards. After 12 rounds, the official judges scored the fight 115-112, 115-112, and 118-109.
Garcia, who returned to action after a one-year suspension, worked a speedy, stiff left jab in the opening round. It was a repeated weapon of choice that set the tone for Garcia's offense. Romero landed a few punches to the body, but was clearly outworked in the opening round.
Romero quickly changed the entire fight in the opening exchanges of Round 2.
Romero rocked Garcia with a pair of hard hooks, sending him to the canvas for the count. Garcia promptly recovered, and the fight continued. Romero attempted to quickly capitalize after the eight count, but Garcia kept him honest with a stiff counter.
Romero's confidence grew in the third round as Garcia's output became slightly more subdued. It was a close frame without any big moments, but Garcia had some nice moments in the closing seconds. In the fourth, Garcia found a home for the left jab as the round wore on, but remained cautious of Romero's forward charges as he landed to the body.
A heated exchange occurred immediately at the start of Round 5, in which Garcia landed the cleaner shots. Garcia kept a steady pace, but didn't put together many combinations as Romero continued to look for punches to the body. The sixth round was another close frame, where Garcia landed a clean left hook as Romero kept him guessing with his movement and body work.
Despite displaying an assertive stance, Garcia's output left more to be desired from his corner. In Rounds 8 and 9, Garcia's left jab scored, but Romero kept things on his terms with more activity as he came forward, mixing up his targets. Romero continued to set the tone in Round 10. He even took risks by overswinging with big punches, some of which missed badly, while a couple connected.
With two rounds remaining, the fight seemed firmly in Romero's control. Garcia's corner pleaded with him to get busy and let his hands go. In Round 10, not much changed despite the fiery speech from Garcia's coach, Derrick James. Romero simply didn't allow Garcia to mount a comeback charge, as he was the one coming forward until the final bell.
Despite winning the fight, Romero was humble in victory and said he believes Garcia should still get his rematch against Devin Haney next, who defeated Jose Ramirez in the co-feature. Garcia said he was affected by the knockdown and credited Romero for good work throughout the fight.
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