It’s been a turbulent year for Ryan Garcia, who moments ago suffered a shocking loss to Rolando Romero in Times Square, New York. Ironically, nearly a year ago, ‘King Ry’ stood in the same city under very different circumstances, facing off against his rival Devin Haney. Garcia, who was the underdog at the time, dropped Haney three times and walked away with a majority decision victory, flipping the script in a fight few expected him to win.

However, soon after his win, VADA revealed he tested positive for Ostarine, a PED, and it subsequently resulted in him getting banned from the sport for a year. Not to mention, Haney filed a lawsuit against Garcia, alleging battery, fraud, and breach of contract. To settle this lawsuit, the pair was supposed to fight later this year. The only condition, though, both Garcia and Haney had to win their respective fights. While Haney fought his way to a lackluster win, the Victorville native fell short. This has raised questions about their rematch, with the obvious outcome seemingly all-out cancelation of the penciled-in fight in September. 

Right after the fight, during the in-ring interview, Garcia gave Romero his deserved praise for winning the fight despite being counted out early on. “He fought a good fight, caught me early,” Garcia said. “No excuses, man. He did a great job, and that’s that. I just think that whole year [off] took a lot off my body physically, mentally.”

“I’m just happy I made it to the ring and went 12 rounds. Hats off to Rolly, he did a great job,” Garcia added. “Just got to go to the drawing board with my team, we’ll talk it over and see what we do next.” However, it appears Ryan Garcia couldn’t express his true feelings completely with cameras and hundreds of people watching him in the ring.

Since then, a clip shared on social media platforms shows the 26-year-old weeping while sitting in his car after the fight. The clip was captioned, “Ryan Garcia crying [in] the car after losing to Rolly Romero 😂😭.” This showed that behind all the trash talk and drama, the loss has deeply affected the Victorville native. Nonetheless, Romero seems to understand what Ryan Garcia is going through.

Rolly Romero feels empathy for Ryan Garcia

Ahead of the high-stakes fight with Ryan Garcia, Rolly Romero showed unexpected empathy for his opponent, reflecting on their shared struggles with mental health. Once skeptical of Garcia’s public battle with depression, Romero now understands the weight of those challenges. After a difficult 2024 marked by personal lows and a TKO loss to Isaac Cruz, Romero credits therapy for helping him confront long-standing emotional issues.

“Being able to admit you have a problem makes you a man,” he told The Ring before their fight tonight. Romero even recalled reaching out to Garcia in 2021, recognizing the pain behind his rival’s eyes. Despite their trash talk in the past, Romero believes their rivalry is rooted more in mutual understanding than animosity. “A lot of boxers struggle with mental health,” Garcia said. As they prepared to meet in Times Square, both men brought more than skill to the ring—they brought hard-earned emotional growth.

Despite holding back his emotions for as long as he could, Ryan Garcia eventually broke down after his latest loss. The outcome is now set in stone, but the path forward is still his to shape. How do you view Garcia’s emotional breakdown?