𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Ryan Garcia was on the wrong end of one of boxing’s biggest upsets earlier this year when he was outpointed by Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero’ in New York.

The charismatic American delivered a lacklustre performance after being knocked down in the second round and has since undergone hand surgery.

But he has recently posted footage of himself back in training and is eyeing a return to the ring before the end of the year.

Which begs the question: who will be in the opposite corner?

Let’s take a look at some of the names in the mix to take on Garcia next.

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Rolando Romero rematch

Despite being away from the ring for over a year, Garcia was a big favourite to beat Romero when they faced each other in May.

However, he simply never got going and was comfortably beaten on points. Romero has since been upgraded to full champion status by the WBA after Jaron Ennis vacated his title to move up to super-welterweight.

Garcia has never held a world title but could change that if he takes the rematch with Romero and wins.

Talks have reportedly been held over a second fight between the pair, yet Garcia has claimed his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, wants to give the Romero title shot to another of his Golden Boy fighters.

“After the Romero fight, they gave me the worst offer you can ever imagine,” Garcia recently told The Ring. “It was a bulls*** offer. And then Oscar tried to take my rematch with Rolly and give it to Raul Curiel.

“I’ve been trying to get the Rolly rematch, and now you want to give it to another fighter?”

With Garcia and De La Hoya seemingly at loggerheads, the Romero rematch is currently hanging in the balance.

Manny Pacquiao

Garcia has now stepped up to welterweight but is not the biggest name at 147lbs. That title goes to the recently-returned Manny Pacquiao.

The Filipino icon stepped back between the ropes for the first time in four years to draw with Mario Barrios last month as he narrowly missed out on becoming a world champion at 46.

Pacquiao impressed in his comeback fight but Garcia is convinced he would deliver a one-sided beating if he shared the ring with the eight-division world champion.

He told The Ring: “I’ve been interested in fighting the legendary Manny Pacquiao for a while now. It’s something that you dream of. There have been talks in the past of us fighting, and then it fell through.

“There is a history there. I am always up for the challenge; I would be lying if I said I am not interested. If Manny wants to throw down, let’s do it.

“I know that I would present a lot of problems for Pacquiao. I would dominate him. I would capitalise on his mistakes better than other guys. I would knock him out like Juan Manuel Marquez – all due respect to the legend Manny, though.”

Garcia is 20 years younger than Pacquiao and this could be a passing of the torch moment. It may also be a chance for Pacquiao to prove his greatness once more, while both men would be in line for a major payday. Do not be surprised if this fight gets made.

Teofimo Lopez

Garcia has been talking up the prospect of fighting Romero or Pacquiao, but his promoter seems to have other ideas.

Oscar De La Hoya has named Teofimo Lopez as an alternative opponent, with the 140lb world champion potentially stepping up to welterweight in the near future.

Asked whether he liked the idea of Garcia running it back with Romero, De La Hoya said: “No, I actually don’t, because the first fight was a dull fight.

“I believe there’s other big fights we can make with the likes of Teofimo and other fighters.”

Garcia and Lopez are two of the most outspoken fighters in boxing today and the trash talk in the build-up would be must-watch.

They also have crowd-friendly styles when at their best, with Garcia arguably having the edge in power while Lopez can outbox anyone, making it an intriguing matchup.

Devin Haney rematch

Devin Haney already has his next fight scheduled as he is due to face Brian Norman Jr for the WBO welterweight title in November.

But if Garcia wants more time off to recover from his hand injury, setting this rematch up for the early part of 2026 could be a realistic prospect.

Should Haney beat Norman Jr, he would become a three-weight world champion and would be firmly back on track after losing to Garcia last year before the bout was subsequently ruled a no contest after Garcia failed a drugs test.

There is bad blood between the pair after their epic first fight which saw Garcia knock Haney down three times.

They looked set for a rematch later this year only for Garcia to lose to Romero, while Haney failed to impress during his shutout points win over Jose Ramirez on the same night.

Right now, the return fight does not appear to be on the table. But a Haney victory in November could change all that, with interest likely to ramp up for the arch-rivals to settle their feud once and for all.

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