Ryan Garcia is coming off a loss to Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, which shocked the boxing world on May 2nd in Times Square, New York. Romero dropped Garcia in the second round to eventually secure a lopsided unanimous decision win. However, a statement from Garcia has now shed light on his injury before the fight. 

The injury was first reported by Sports Illustrated, which seems to have occurred during training camp for Garcia’s fight against Romero. Instead of postponing the fight, the 26-year-old supposedly decided to push through and take cortisone injections to get rid of the pain. During the fight, Ryan Garcia was slow and seemed to be on the defensive for most of the bout. Regardless, since the loss, KingRy has finally broken his silence on his injury.

Garcia hopped in X earlier today, revealing that he has gone under the knife for his hand injury, but never used it as an excuse for his loss to Romero. “I went and got the surgery for my hand and what I needed to get done, I never used that as an excuse for my fight,” Garcia wrote. “The media is going to report the surgery. I’m just blessed it was done and successful.”

He thanked his supporters, noting, “Thank you to all for the love and support from the community and people who have been supporting me in my career love yall.” In the meantime, the loss to Romero cast doubts over his planned rematch against rival Devin Haney in October. Not to mention, Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, recently claimed that instead of Haney, they are now focused on producing a rematch against Romero.

This comes after Guadalupe Valencia, Garcia’s manager/attorney, revealed more details about his hand injury.

Guadalupe Valencia confirms hand injury impacted Ryan Garcia during the fight

According to Valencia, Garcia had surgery on his right hand on Tuesday for an injury he suffered before the Rolando Romero fight, which impacted his performance. “Yes, his injury was a problem during the Romero fight,’’ Guadalupe Valencia told USA TODAY Sports by text message. “But that is in the past, and we don’t want to make excuses. …” Valencia also claimed that Garcia is now feeling “good and positive” before suggesting that the Victorville native will return to the ring in “fall.” 

Without getting into specifics, Garcia’s attorney also shed light on Garcia’s future after the loss, stating, “When Ryan is well, he will be back and will have an elite-level performance.” He added, “This past fight vs. Romero is a minor setback. Ryan at 100% is unbeatable.” For now, though, Garcia’s manager suggested that they are waiting for the boxer’s hand to heal. However, he highlighted that a rematch against Haney is also in consideration. 

That said, it appears Ryan Garcia was keeping his hand injury under wraps since the loss. However, the question is, do you think it’s an excuse, or Garcia’s injury really could have played a key role in his loss?