With roughly a month remaining before he steps in to defend his WBC welterweight title from the English contender, Ryan Garcia has come under scathing criticism from someone he knew from his early days.

“Bro, why are we even bringing this up during conversation? Didn’t he duck me twice?” Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero said in a recent interview with Fight Hub TV’s Michelle Joy Phelps.

Rolly’s frustration stemmed from the recent comments Ryan Garcia made. It’s been more than a year since Rolly staged a major upset when he knocked down Garcia in their fight before securing a unanimous decision win. He is now set to defend his WBA welterweight title against Teofimo Lopez later this month.

Garcia’s own title defense against Conor Benn will follow two weeks later. While busy preparing for the marquee showdown, the Victorville native appears to have set his sights on the next matchup – the winner of the Rolly-Lopez fight in a unification bout. Rolando Romero, however, dismisses the idea.

“He ducked me after our direct rematch clause, and he ducked me after he fought Barrios,” he told Joy Phelps. “You’re going to tell me that this dude wants to fight, or he’s just trying to chase whatever clout he can get right now. Same way he calls out everybody in the world and doesn’t fight anybody. Don’t bring up Ryan Garcia. He’s a clout-chasing fool.”

Prompted by his comments, the Fight Hub reporter highlighted how Garcia had even called out Terence Crawford. The welterweight champion and boxing’s first male three-division undisputed champion have been involved in some sharp back-and-forth exchanges on social media over the last few months.

In interviews, Garcia reportedly questioned both Crawford’s and his protégé Shakur Stevenson’s resumes and challenged, saying that he would give Crawford “all the works.” Romero finds that callout incredulous.

“Why are we talking about dumb stuff now? Like, bro, like that’s like the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.

Romero’s anger follows the 15 months he spent sidelined. He had beaten Garcia, and later, when Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vacated the title at 147 pounds for a move to the light middleweight, he became a full champion as well. Yet despite those developments, Romero still had to contend with such a long layoff.

That layoff could have been avoided had Garcia allegedly not gone back on his commitment to their rematch.

During the post-fight presser of the May 2 event last year, Garcia, while non-committal, appeared open to the idea of a rematch with Rolly. Based on “whatever the fans want,” he said that he could either enter a rematch with Rolly or settle things with bitter rival Devin Haney.

Even his promoter, Oscar De la Hoya, expressed more interest in a Romero rematch than one with Haney, saying, “That would be the right move for him, I think. You know, go get revenge, and you know, in boxing, you’re as good as your last fight.”

But things did not go as was expected.

The rematch Rolly Romero says Ryan Garcia ran from

In a recent interview with boxing content creator Showbizz The Adult, Romero revealed what transpired after the fight against Garcia.

According to the WBA title holder, the pair had an “automatic rematch clause.” They even seem to have agreed to a 5% split on pay-per-view (PPV), along with a percentage-based side bet.

However, Romero claimed Garcia went back on his word and “ducked” the agreements, leaving the rematch in limbo.

The claims, however, are solely from Romero’s end. The three-division champion is known for making some loud claims and comments.

Still, developments following the Garcia fight do lend some context to Romero’s comments to Michelle Joy Phelps.

First, after he recovered from a hand surgery, Garcia went on social media, dropping hints about a potential rematch with Devin Haney. The two were even filmed meeting on friendly terms.

Later, as the months progressed into the new year, reports finally emerged about a title fight with Mario Barrios, who held the WBC title at 147 pounds.

So it’s logical to assume Garcia might have viewed Rolly Romero as a high-risk, low-card opponent. A consecutive defeat would have harmed his future, with marquee fights potentially slipping away from him.

Viewed through that lens, the WBC’s decision to lift its ban on Garcia in November last year became significant. The Mexico City-based sanctioning body had expelled Garcia from its rolls after he made offensive remarks on a social media livestream.

Given those circumstances, Garcia must have felt Barrios was an easier target, especially after the latter found himself heavily criticized and questioned following the debatable draw against an aging Manny Pacquiao, who came out of retirement just a few months before their July fight last year.

With that in mind, returning to Romero as a champion made more sense to Garcia than merely fighting him as a contender.

He is the odds-on favorite against Benn. So after that title defense, he can challenge Romero with boosted confidence and more elan, given that he would have defeated two prominent fighters in Barrios and Benn back-to-back. In practical terms, although he has known Romero since their sparring days, last year’s fight has given him significant insights into what he needs to change and the adjustments he needs to make.

Those adjustments, combined with his newfound confidence, could give him more belief heading into a Romero rematch and help ease any fears of another loss.