Ryan Garcia Humbled Twice as Jake Paul Delivers Verdict After Rolly Romero Loss at Times Square

Ryan Garcia must be going through the toughest time in his career thus far. He entered the ring tonight with hopes of securing an easy win against former WBA super lightweight champion Rolly Romero. However, what unfolded next shocked the world. As the dust settles, things have only gotten worse—his former friend turned rival, Jake Paul, has now chimed in, adding salt to the wound.

Believe it or not, back in the day, when Garcia was starting to make a name for himself in the boxing world, he was friends with Paul. Popularly, Garcia had even trained ‘The Problem Child’ before Paul’s own boxing career took off. However, as both fighters’ popularity soared, so did the tension between them. What began as playful fight callouts gradually escalated into public jabs and veiled insults on social media.

Amid their occasional jabs here and there, the pair seems to have reignited their rivalry after Garcia recently appeared in an interview with USA Today Sports. While there, ‘The Flash’ spoke about fighting Paul eventually, suggesting that he would soon run out of prime and aging boxers to fight. However, what really seems to have hurt Paul was what Garcia said next. 

When asked whether he considers Jake Paul a real boxer, Ryan Garcia said, “He’s a wild card. I mean, I don’t know if he’s a boxer… He’s never fought in a ranked match at his weight class. I don’t even know what his weight class is, I don’t know if it’s heavyweight, I don’t know. It’s cruiserweight. I don’t know what his weight class is, so [I] can’t really say that he’s legitimate.”

This, of course, followed Garcia’s loss tonight to Romero, which quickly caught Paul’s attention, who took to his Instagram story, hitting back at Garcia. “Irony always wins,” Paul wrote while sharing a picture of Garcia’s knockdown during the second round of the fight. Meanwhile, the Cleveland-born boxer is scheduled to face former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. 

The pair will lock horns on June 28th at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. However, Garcia or Chavez Jr. aren’t the only ones who want to scrap with ‘El Gallo.’

Heavyweight champion names Jake Paul as dream fight

Karate Combat heavyweight champion Sam Alvey has named Jake Paul as his dream opponent, though he doubts the bout would ever happen. “I want Jake Paul to come over,” Alvey told MMA Fighting. “Jake Paul, come fight me in the pit, you wimp.” Alvey, who is set to defend his 205-pound title against striking legend Tyrone Spong at KC 54 in Dubai, acknowledged that he doesn’t fit Paul’s usual criteria.

“I’m not old enough or retired enough for him to want to fight me. Or small enough,” he said. “I’m too young, I’m too athletic, I’m too big, and I’m not retired. Those are his four qualifications for fighting somebody.” Since leaving the UFC, Alvey has been unbeaten in Karate Combat, crediting the promotion’s unique pit for helping him evolve as a fighter. 

That said, it appears Jake Paul didn’t let go of the opportunity to get back at Ryan Garcia after the latter’s loss tonight. Whether this means a fight between them can happen next is unclear, but it would be interesting if it did. Would you watch that fight? 

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