The lucrative challenges he pursued after he revitalized his career against Garcia – fights with Devin Haney, Manny Pacquiao and Conor Benn – didn’t materialize. Romero begrudgingly accepted Teofimo Lopez as his next opponent Saturday night in Las Vegas because he eventually believed that facing his friend was his only option if he wanted to headline another pay-per-view event.

Watching Garcia, who was a 10-1 favorite before Romero dropped and outpointed him in May 2025, move forward as if their fight never happened further infuriated Romero and made him doubt he’ll ever earn the respect he feels he deserves. Garcia, meanwhile, was somehow awarded a shot at the WBC welterweight title in his first fight after Romero beat him and is on the verge of collecting his second seven-figure purse since they fought.

Failing to capitalize on the momentum beating Garcia should’ve provided only worsened Romero’s problems away from boxing and sent him into a deep depression.

“It was a hard year,” Romero told The Ring. “It was a very hard year. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I went through this last year.”

The 30-year-old Romero assumed his victory over Garcia in The Ring’s main event at Times Square in New York would’ve warranted some praise from a dismissive army of detractors.

Instead, Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) couldn’t secure a fight and was not ranked at times among The Ring’s top 10 welterweight contenders for an unclaimed championship.

He was baffled when Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs, 1 NC) was ranked one spot ahead of him by The Ring after his rival defeated Mario Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the WBC 147-pound crown February 21.

Unforgiving fans and media maintain Romero is much more the flawed fighter who was lucky to be awarded a decision over Jackson Marinez six years ago than a fearsome champion.

They point, too, to his controversial ninth-round stoppage three years ago against Ismael Barroso, who was 40, yet ahead on all three scorecards when Tony Weeks weirdly halted their fight for the then-vacant WBA junior welterweight title. Romero hurt Barroso badly and dropped him in that ninth round, but Weeks’ haste only strengthened the narrative that Romero is more fortunate than formidable.

Romero’s admittedly poor performance in an eighth-round, technical-knockout loss to Isaac Cruz in March 2024 is fresh in their minds as well.

Even Lopez (22-2, 13 KOs), who has acknowledged their friendship, ripped Romero’s resume during their final press conference Thursday.

“To me, he’s a interim champion,” Lopez said. “And he’s always been a three-division interim champion. He’s never been an actual ‘super’ or any world champion. He’s been elevated and I think some people forget that this guy is not in my league. He won’t ever be and was never in my league. I think that’s just the whole purpose of this thing … for me to show everyone that. Just because he beat Ryan Garcia – I’m not Ryan Garcia.”

There’s no denying that Romero has benefited from the WBA’s long-running sanctioning scam because he has held either interim or secondary titles in three weight classes.

There was no logical reason to approve Romero-Garcia as a welterweight championship match. It nonetheless enabled Romero to capture another secondary crown that transformed him into a welterweight champ when Jaron Ennis gave up his Ring, IBF and WBA 147-pound titles to move up to junior middleweight a month after Romero’s victory versus Garcia.

Still, beating Garcia and Lopez in back-to-back bouts would undoubtedly demonstrate consistency Romero has failed to exhibit the past six years.

Even then, Romero anticipates backlash because Lopez lost his last fight decisively to undefeated four-division champion Shakur Stevenson, who is ranked No. 3 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list.

“I’m not gonna get credit,” Romero said. “They’re gonna claim Shakur burnt him out and he was unable to fight [at a high level] ever again. Shakur has no power to burn somebody out. But I’m telling you straight up, I won’t get credit.”

Lopez, 29, beat two Ring champions – Vasiliy Lomachenko and Josh Taylor – in the lightweight and junior lightweight divisions. He will make his welterweight debut when he meets Romero, however, and has also been beset by inconsistency in difficult fights with George Kambosos Jr., Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz.

Romero, a 2-1 underdog according to DraftKings, won’t want to hear any of that “when” he beats Lopez in a 12-round pay-per-view main event DAZN and Amazon’s Prime Video will stream from T-Mobile Arena for $79.99 in the United States.

“Everyone says Shakur Stevenson is a Hall of Famer,” Romero said. “His best win is Teofimo Lopez. I knock out Teofimo Lopez, am I a Hall of Famer? No, because I’m Rolly Romero. And that’s his best win. Make it make sense.”

■ The WBC informed Carlos Adames recently that he must make his next title defense against the winner between Jesus Ramos and Meiirim Nursultanov on September 19 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Ramos won the WBC interim 160-pound title December 6, when he outpointed Shane Mosley Jr. in San Antonio. Meanwhile, the WBC has yet to order its 154-pound champ, Sebastian Fundora, to face Vergil Ortiz Jr., who won its interim junior middleweight crown two years ago.

■ Based on what we’ve witnessed in Anthony Joshua’s last two legitimate fights, would it be all that much of a letdown if this prolonged disagreement regarding the site prevented his fight with Tyson Fury from happening?

■ Claressa Shields’ 21-percent knockout ratio would be significantly higher had Andre Dirrell worked with her earlier on refining her technique and committing more to the type of left hook that knocked Kaye Scott senseless in the sixth round Saturday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. An aggressive Shields seemed hellbent from the opening bell on stopping Scott, sat down more consistently on her punches and recorded just her fourth knockout in 19 professional fights.