Garcia beaten by Romero in return from doping ban

NEW YORK, United States — US boxer Ryan Garcia was knocked down once on the way to a unanimous decision defeat to Rolly Romero in his return from a doping suspension in a welterweight bout held in New York's iconic Times Square on Friday (Saturday, Manila time).

The defeat threw Garcia's planned rematch with Devin Haney in doubt, although Haney did his part with a unanimous decision victory over Jose Ramirez in the outdoor ring erected for the event.

Romero sent Garcia to the canvas in the second round with a pair of left hooks and dominated the rest of the fight. Two judges gave it to Romero 115-112 and the third scored it 118-109.

In April of last year, Ryan knocked down Haney three times on the way to a decision victory, but that result was wiped out and the bout declared a no-contest after it was revealed Garcia failed a pre-fight drug test.

In June Garcia was arrested for reportedly causing some $15,000 worth of damage at a hotel in Beverly Hills and a month later he was suspended from World Boxing Council events for making racist comments on social media.

He had planned a New Year's exhibition against kickboxing champion Rukiya Anpo, but that fell through when Garcia suffered a wrist injury in training.

Romero handed Garcia his second professional defeat against 24 victories -- 20 by way of knockout.

"I just think that whole year (off) took a lot off my body physically, mentally," Garcia said.

"I'm just happy I made it to the ring and went 12 rounds. Hats off to Rolly ... just got to go to the drawing board with my team. We'll talk it over and see what we do next."

Haney, meanwhile, improved to 32-0 with a dominant victory, two judges scoring it 119-109 for Haney and the third seeing it 118-110.