Now this may become a major spoiler. Just when talks of a potential unification bout between them heat up, Rolando “Rolly” Romero’s latest comments about Ryan Garcia may rile Devin Haney. Romero’s prediction about their bout had already irked Haney. His reaction could even be stronger, given the way the WBA welterweight champion defended Garcia over the 2024 doping scandal on Brian Custer’s ‘The Last Stand’ podcast. Recently, Joe Rogan also played down Garcia’s failed drug tests. But his stance was promptly contested by Shakur Stevenson.

“If he was doing PEDs for real, he would have; he probably did get cross-contaminated because that stuff does happen,” Romero argued. “Because I’ll tell you like this, he does not—he did not act like somebody that was on PEDs. If you’re on PEDs, you wouldn’t have been getting drunk every night.

“You would have been actually trying to win the fight. Ryan has Devin’s number. If they fought a hundred times, Ryan would knock him out a hundred times. PEDs do not make you—does not make your opponent not keep their hand up.”

Overall, Romero believes critics have unfairly targeted Ryan Garcia. He deserves more respect for his ability. He claimed performance-enhancing drugs did not give Garcia any real advantage in the fight against Devin Haney when they met on April 20, 2024.

PEDs would not have made Haney change his defensive habits by dropping his hands, Rolando Romero added. He also claimed Garcia did not intentionally take steroids and believes the positive test could have been the result of cross-contamination.

A similar sentiment surfaced somewhere else in the boxing world. Not as forcefully, but Joe Rogan echoed Romero’s arguments a few days ago.

Ryan Garcia’s doping questions refuse to fade

“It’s one of those things where he has the fight with Devin, he beats Devin,” Rogan said on JRE’s latest episode. “Gets popped, you know, for whatever he was on, Ostarine, and then there’s like he’s got a long time off. There’s a lot of people mad at him. There’s a lot of people, you know, which is such an unfortunate thing if you think about his performance against Devin because that was incredible.”

But if Rogan expected support, his host quickly proved him wrong. Shakur Stevenson remained adamant – Garcia does not deserve any credit for the knockdowns he scored against Devin Haney. Rogan pushed back, saying the PED would not have given Garcia enough strength to drop Haney three times in the fight.

“But steroids don’t help you land punches. They help you recover in training. They help you train a little harder. They might give you a little bit more power. But that left hook was on point,” he said.

Meanwhile, Garcia’s recent form has only added fuel to the debate.

The surge of well-known figures talking in Ryan Garcia’s favor appears to have grown, especially after he scored a decisive win over Mario Barrios last month. Garcia stepped into the ring nearly ten months after Rolly Romero outpointed him on a Ring card in New York.

While Garcia openly called out Shakur Stevenson, the dominant victory once again shifted attention to the rematch with Haney. While reports indicated the two sides were moving closer to a deal, not much movement has happened on that front, with talks of a Haney-Romero fight replacing it.

Yet, the broader conversation continues to center on Garcia’s past misdemeanor, VADA testing, and related concerns.