It appears that a welterweight unification title bout with WBO champ Devin Haney will happen in late May, but it won't be against new WBC titleholder Ryan Garcia. Instead, he'll apparently meet WBA champ Rolando "Rolly" Romero.
WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney and WBA titleholder Rolando “Rolly” Romero are currently deep in negotiations for a potential welterweight unified title bout being targeted for May 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
And, while that bout has significance, it doesn't have the appeal of a possible rematch with recently crowned WBC champ, Ryan Garcia. Nonetheless, the particulars are being ironed out for Haney-Romero.
While, Boxing Scene's Lance Pugmire was the first to report the details of the possible Haney-Romero, on our "Fight Freaks Unite Podcast" Sunday night, insider Dan Rafael had learned more on the fight.
Hear that conversation by clicking play below,
The 30 year old Romero, 17-2, 13 KOs, is aligned with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), and the Haney fight is expected to headline a "PBC on Prime Video" pay-per-view if the deal is finalized. Bolstering the reporting, Romero recently hinted on social media that the bout is already writing “signed, sealed and delivered” and calling it a “big boy deal." Still, sources told Rafael the agreement is not yet fully completed.
The 27 year old Haney, 33-0, 15 KOs, 27, is currently a promotional free agent, has not finalized his portion of the deal according to Rafael. Negotiations on his side are being handled by his father, trainer, and manager, Bill.
Complicating matters is Romero’s overdue WBA mandatory title defense against Shakhram Giyasov (16-0, 9 KOs). The 32-year-old contender from Uzbekistan, who captured a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, was originally positioned for a shot at the WBA belt earlier this year. Giyasov "stepped aside" to allow the title unification bout between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis to take place last April. In return, he was assured that he would receive the next opportunity to challenge for the title.
Ennis ultimately won that bout by KO, unifying the IBF and WBA championships. Shortly afterward, Romero defeated Garcia by decision in May to claim the vacant WBA “regular” welterweight title. But, when Ennis later vacated the WBA belt after moving up up to junior middleweight, Romero was elevated to full WBA champion. So, he inherited the mandatory obligation to face Giyasov.
Last week, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told Rafael that the sanctioning body planned to send an official letter to both Romero’s and Giyasov’s teams to schedule a purse bid for their mandatory bout. However, that letter has not yet been sent, and the focus has seemingly shifted toward finalizing the proposed unification fight between Romero and Haney.
On the same card in Times square in NYC last May that Romero defeated Garcia, Haney defeated former unified 140 lb. champion Jose Luis Ramirez in a largely dull decision. However, he was much busier and effective in dethroning the WBO welterweight champ, Brian Norman, in a 12 round decision in November.
Turki Alashikh and the Saudi Entertainment Authority have been financially behind Haney's last three fights and just put on the PPV where Garcia beat Mario Barrios for the WBC 147 lb. title. Further, it's believed he is poised to make Haey-Garcia later in 2026, which could escalate if Haney doesn't agree with Romero and the PBC terms for the May date.