NEW YORK — What was supposed to be a memorable event Friday night ended up being a lackluster one that left boxing fans unfulfilled.
The plan was for Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney to win their respective fights and meet for a highly anticipated rematch later this year. Haney held up his end of the bargain, albeit with an uninspiring decision, but Rolando “Rolly” Romero played the role of disruptor, pulling off a massive upset of Garcia by unanimous decision to cap an underwhelming night of fights against the unique setting of Times Square in New York.
The expectation was for Garcia and Romero to deliver fireworks that would make the ringside judges’ scorecards unnecessary. Instead, Garcia (24-2, 1 NC) found himself on his back in the second round and turned in a listless performance as Romero (17-2) cruised to a wide decision via scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 118-108.
That fight followed an equally subpar effort by Haney, who was let off the hook by an opponent who was content simply following him around the ring. Although timid and seemingly unsure of himself in his first fight since being dropped three times by Garcia in April 2024, Haney (32-0, 1 NC) was skilled enough to thwart the advances of a plodding Ramirez (29-3) in a painfully sluggish fight that saw a total of 503 punches thrown.
Plans for a Garcia-Haney rematch might still be in place as a contract was reportedly signed ahead of Friday night for a clash later this year. However, because of how their fights played out, it will be interesting to see if the rematch materializes later this year or if Turki Al-Sheikh decides to go in another direction.
Source: espn.com