NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia demeaned Rolando "Rolly" Romero during fight week.

Romero’s heavily favored opponent noted no one ever considered the former WBA super lightweight champion “an elite fighter.” That was all part of Garcia’s promotional ploy to get under Romero’s skin.

The truth was Garcia knew from their sparring sessions eight years ago, and from fighters who faced Romero without headgear, that theirs would be a difficult fight Friday night in Times Square. The hard-hitting Garcia obviously expected to win, as did DraftKings which listed him as an 11-1 favorite.

Romero, 29, demonstrated early in the second round, however, what Garcia knew when he entered the ring.

Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) dropped Garcia with a left hook that set the tone for their 12-round welterweight fight. The North Las Vegas native also protected himself well from Garcia’s trademark left hook and kept him from getting into a rhythm during a fight that lacked action overall.

The surprising result was the most noteworthy win of Romero’s eight-year professional career — a unanimous points victory that destroyed momentum for Garcia’s long-promoted rematch with Devin Haney.

“I just think that Rolly is much better than people give him credit for,” Garcia said during his post-fight press conference. “He has very strong hands, just solid in general. So, you can’t just walk in there and think you’re just gonna get anything on him. He does hit hard, but I don’t think the sparring played anything [into this fight]. It was just more of how his night played out. It just wasn’t my night.”

Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs, 1 NC) and Haney (32-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC), who carefully outboxed Jose Ramirez in the co-feature Friday night, signed contracts to fight again sometime in October. It is unclear if Haney-Garcia 2 will take place.

The polarizing Garcia’s performance doesn’t warrant a huge payday for another fight with Haney, who didn’t perform in an entertaining manner, either.

Judge Waleska Roldan gave Garcia only two rounds. The Victorville, California, native lost 118-109 on her card. Judges Tony Paolillo (115-112) and Tom Schreck (115-112) each scored seven rounds for Romero, who didn’t seem bothered by any of Garcia’s punches.

Garcia credited Romero afterward. Unlike lots of contemporaries, he didn’t make any excuses for his own poor performance.

Garcia, 26, didn’t underestimate Romero because, despite the pre-bout bravado, he realized what he would encounter in the main event of The Ring’s “FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves” outdoor card.

“I always knew that he was gonna be what he is,” said Garcia, who fought for the first time in more than a year. “I feel like I fought the most dangerous fighter on the card. Anybody with that type of power is obviously somebody you gotta watch out for. … I thought Rolly was gonna beat Tank. I just didn’t do anything I should’ve done tonight.”