LAS VEGAS – As turbulent as their rivalry has been over the years, Rolly Romero knew the opportunity that opened for him to fight Ryan Garcia was there for the taking.

So, despite their heated sparring sessions, their intense verbal exchanges and public spats of the past, Romero did the simplest of all acts to land himself in the most eventful main event in recent years.

He picked up the phone and called Garcia, and Garcia accepted the offer.

“I just made a phone call. I wouldn’t even say I talked my way into it,” Romero said when asked how he successfully replaced Garcia’s original opponent for May 2 at New York’s Times Square, former WBA 140lbs champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

“Let me ask you this: What fight would be better for Ryan at this point? What other options were there? There was no other option.”

With this mutual agreement, a fight festering since the pair squared off as young 20-something proteges of Oscar De La Hoya (Garcia) and Floyd Mayweather Jnr (Romero), a rivalry that endured “a lot of bullshit and complicated stuff” is on.

Back in 2018, when Romero, 16-2 (13 KOs), was regularly fighting on club cards at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas while Garcia was rising upward by performing on well-attended undercards in California and New York, the pair shared entertaining sparring sessions, with Romero getting the better of the action thanks to landing some effective power punches.

“Yeah, but that’s sparring. I’ve had guys land good shots on me and I’ve landed good shots,” Romero said. “Yeah, I did beat the shit out of him both days  … it don’t matter. It’s just sparring. I was just trying to get a big fight.”

The back-and-forth continued, with Southern California’s more accomplished amateur Garcia sort of big-timing Las Vegas’ Romero, who only started boxing at 17 before landing a Mayweather Promotions contract at age 20.

Whatever tension existed faded when Romero learned that Garcia was suffering from depression.

In 2021, as Romero was preparing for a WBA interim lightweight title defense against Anthony Yigit that moved him in victory to a title shot at Gervonta “Tank” Davis, he said he thought, “Something’s not right about this,” and he reached out to Garcia on social media.

“So I DM'd Ryan and asked for his number. He was like [apprehensive], and I’m like, ‘No, some things are bigger than boxing,’” Romero said. “He gave me his number. We talked. And we’ve been good ever since. There’s no beef between me and Ryan.”

Romero’s empathy spawns from his challenging youth going back and forth between apartment complexes in his father’s violent downtown Las Vegas neighborhood and his mother’s dangerous area, where he said it seemed “there were three to four Cuban guys dead every day … tough upbringing, a lot of tough things. the worst areas of Vegas.

“I look back on it now and wonder, ‘How the fuck did I make it through?’ At the time, it didn’t bother me. But then you make it out, and see what real life is and you think, ‘I’ve been missing this my whole life?’

“Just having normal conversations with a normal person, I think, ‘They have no idea the shit I went through … .’ But I made peace with my past a long, long time ago. I’m not … ,” his voice trails off before adding whichever word was appropriate, be it “scarred” or “ruined.”

Before Garcia succumbed to a Davis body shot in 2023, Romero also suffered his first loss to Davis one year earlier when a sixth-round barrage of punches by the ropes silenced his successful start that recently prompted Davis to identify Romero as the hardest puncher he’s yet faced.

“He can really crack. It’s like he’s swinging a bag of bricks,” Davis said.

Romero recovered to become a world champion in his next fight, stopping Ismael Barroso in the ninth round to capture the WBA 140lbs belt.

The competition with Garcia still coursed through his mind.

“When I was originally ranked by the WBA in 2020, Ryan was ranked No. 2. The second I went to No. 7, he just miraculously fell out of the rankings. Literally, the same day I got ranked. Because he knows I would’ve pressed for the fight. So they got him out of there,” Romero said. “Whatever. I ended up winning the interim, winning the belt and I became a world champion long before he did.”

Last year was a rough one for both fighters, though, as Romero suffered a TKO loss to Cruz one year ago this week and Garcia’s three-knockdown, majority decision victory over Devin Haney was changed to a no-contest and he was suspended one year for submitting three positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug Ostarine.

“Pay attention to me walking out to that [“Pitbull” Cruz] fight. I look defeated, drained, I wasn’t myself. You could tell,” Romero said. “Congrats, he had the best day of his fucking life and I had the worst day of my entire life. It’s fucking boxing. Whatever happens. It wasn’t my day. But guess what? I fucking bounce back, and I always put myself in something bigger and bigger and bigger.

“I was clearly killing myself to make 140. Everyone could see that. I looked like a worm. I lost all my muscle mass at 140, and it was even worse at 135. When I was a 135, I should’ve been at 140. When I was at 140, I should’ve been at 147. Now, I feel normal for the first time ever.”

Romero is additionally spending his third training camp under famed Cuban cornerman Ismael Salas in Las Vegas, and his development – seen in his footwork and defensive strides – has impressed the veteran coach.

“He came to us for a big fight [Cruz]. To make a big change in one day is too hard. No one can. It’s a process,” Salas said.

Romero returned to the gym right after his September victory by decision over Manuel Jaimes.

“We had more time to make adjustments. My work is not about changing a style. It’s just to improve everyone’s style,” Salas said.

Asked if Romero can defeat Garcia said, “Yes, but I like to keep quiet. He’s doing very well. I’m very satisfied. He’s a very good kid. Now, he’s mature.”

As he went through Salas’ maneuvers in the ring, Romero looked at a reporter and said, “I’m not worried about [Garcia] at all. I know him too well.”

The elephant in the room is the working theory that Romero and Haney’s May opponent, former 140lbs unified champion Jose Ramirez, are but brief impediments to a scheduled October rematch between Garcia and former two-division champion Haney.

Nevertheless, Romero plans to win.

“They can still fight. I’m not in the way of them fighting. I don’t give a fuck about what happens after I fight Ryan,” Romero said. “That has nothing to do with me.”

Garcia has agreed to rigorous Olympic-style drug testing through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association for both the Romero and Haney bouts, although Romero said Garcia was most effectively “enhanced” in the Haney fight by coming in more than three pounds overweight.

“They say it’s about the tests. That had nothing to do with it. It was the weight – 3.2 pounds – more than anything. That’s where the real edge was,” Romero said.

“Devin also fought like an idiot. That’s [trainer-father] Bill [Haney’s] fault, fighting like Devin was going to knock Ryan out. If I had Devin’s boxing ability and long arms, I would’ve tried to box. Devin was just coming forward. Regardless, Devin won every round he didn’t get dropped. And even in one of those rounds, he was winning.”

As the world awaits for that showdown, Romero tops a card that features former undisputed champions Haney and Teofimo Lopez [versus Arnold Barboza Jnr] on the card.

“It’s crazy when you consider Devin debuted in December 2015, and me, Ryan and Teo all debuted in 2016. And now look at us. We all became champions. But those three were all strong amateurs,” Romero said. “No one expected this from me. 

“I called this … when I was at 135, they called for Ryan and I to fight, and I’m like, [‘Forget] that, and at 140. Me and Ryan are going to fight at 147 and it’s going to be one of the biggest fights in the history of the world, the history of boxing.’”

Romero was mere blocks from the areas he was raised as he trained under Salas last week, but he couldn’t dismiss how far he’s come.

“I often ask myself if that kid would’ve been proud of me today. I didn’t know the answer for a long time. Now, I know that he would’ve been proud,” he said. 

“And if I was to tell that kid something today, I would tell him, ‘Don’t be scared, just do it.’”