There may be few fights bigger in the American market right now than a rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.
Not even Teofimo Lopez in a luchador mask, or Oscar de la Hoya bolting up from his chair to challenge Bill Haney to a fight, can somehow overshadow the rivalry that Garcia and Devin share. Presenter Wade Plemons perhaps said it best at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference in New York City when remarking that the spectacle had descended into “full chaos.” But if the rise of Jake Paul and the dramatic father-son reunion between Chris Eubank Jr. and Chris Eubank Sr. this past weekend is anything to go by, modern day boxing audiences revel in the theater of the unexpected — and even the absurd.
With all the main players on stage together promoting the Fatal Fury event set to take place in Times Square on Friday, fans popped the most whenever Garcia or Haney were near the mic.
This time last year, Garcia missed weight by a significant 3.2-pound margin the day before their April 2024 bout, but boxed brilliantly to drop Haney multiple times en route to a majority decision win at Barclays Center in New York. Controversy from the fight extended into the aftermath, as it was soon uncovered that Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine. The New York State Athletic Commission swiftly overturned Garcia’s win to a no contest.
Garcia and Haney have different opponents Friday, back in New York, as the former fights Rolando “Rolly” Romero while the latter takes on Jose Ramirez. Also on the DAZN card, Teofimo Lopez fights Arnold Barboza Jr. in a WBO world championship collision. Each bout would make for a worthy headliner.
But this promotion is not just about three big bouts — it’s about the location too. Its organizers — Turki Alalshikh’s Ring Magazine — are effectively shutting down New York’s iconic Times Square for an event that is seemingly free for the public to attend. Lopez himself invited the entire city to turn up.
Ring Magazine COO Rick Reeno — who appears to have taken on more of a promoter’s role after leaving Boxing Scene, a publication he founded and edited up until last year — said it was a “significant undertaking” when they could have, instead, put the fights in front of a ticketed audience at one of the city’s iconic venues like Madison Square Garden.
But while New York could become a key character, Wednesday’s show was dominated by old rivals — Garcia, a clear fan favorite despite his suspension for a performance-enhancing drug, and Haney, who continues to be jeered regardless of whether he’s in Los Angeles for a kickoff presser or New York for fight week.
Haney took it all in his stride. “Y’all can boo or y’all can cheer,” he said. “It don’t matter. It’s all noise. When I dust Jose Ramirez up on Friday, I’ll get to your boy Ryan after. That’s it.”
Indeed, the wheels may already be in motion to set Garcia up with Haney at a later event.
Garcia said he’d happily “whoop” Haney and his father/coach Bill Haney again after vowing to knock Romero out. Garcia did so using clear speech that contrasted how raspy he sounded in the buildup to his 2024 fight with Haney.
This was not lost on Devin or Bill.
“Without ostarine, his voice doesn’t even sound the same,” said Devin. “Your muscles have gone, your voice has gone. This motherf***** has gone!”
Bill added: “This is not the same Ryan Garcia.”
The super lightweight Garcia responded by saying that he has “multiple personalities.”
“You don’t want to see the crazy one,” he finished.
Devin and Bill’s observation was an accurate one. This Uncrowned reporter has interviewed Garcia from his days as a prospect, when he recalled to us his favorite Christmas memories of making gingerbread houses with his parents and siblings. And that Garcia seemed a world away from the one who generated negative headlines with a racist tirade on social media in 2024, leading to his expulsion from the WBC.
This week’s Garcia is as close to the gingerbread version as we’ve seen him in recent times.
And this was not lost on Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn. “I want to say a huge congratulations to Ryan Garcia,” he said. “Because I think he’s a massive asset to the sport of boxing. And it’s great to see him looking healthy and ready to perform [on Friday].”
Noting the difference in Garcia, his coach Derrick James said: “He’s shown he’s very disciplined … and he just wants what he wants.”
Judging from Wednesday’s media event, Garcia wants a lightning-quick win over Romero to remind critics he’s as devastating off ostarine as he seemingly was on it, then to turn his attention back to Haney, in a box-office rematch that will no doubt provide even more theatrical absurdity than this fight week.
There may be few fights bigger in the American market right now than a rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney.
Not even Teofimo Lopez in a luchador mask, or Oscar de la Hoya bolting up from his chair to challenge Bill Haney to a fight, can somehow overshadow the rivalry that Garcia and Devin share. Presenter Wade Plemons perhaps said it best at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference in New York City when remarking that the spectacle had descended into “full chaos.” But if the rise of Jake Paul and the dramatic father-son reunion between Chris Eubank Jr. and Chris Eubank Sr. this past weekend is anything to go by, modern day boxing audiences revel in the theater of the unexpected — and even the absurd.
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With all the main players on stage together promoting the Fatal Fury event set to take place in Times Square on Friday, fans popped the most whenever Garcia or Haney were near the mic.
This time last year, Garcia missed weight by a significant 3.2-pound margin the day before their April 2024 bout, but boxed brilliantly to drop Haney multiple times en route to a majority decision win at Barclays Center in New York. Controversy from the fight extended into the aftermath, as it was soon uncovered that Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine. The New York State Athletic Commission swiftly overturned Garcia’s win to a no contest.
Garcia and Haney have different opponents Friday, back in New York, as the former fights Rolando “Rolly” Romero while the latter takes on Jose Ramirez. Also on the DAZN card, Teofimo Lopez fights Arnold Barboza Jr. in a WBO world championship collision. Each bout would make for a worthy headliner.
But this promotion is not just about three big bouts — it’s about the location too. Its organizers — Turki Alalshikh’s Ring Magazine — are effectively shutting down New York’s iconic Times Square for an event that is seemingly free for the public to attend. Lopez himself invited the entire city to turn up.
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Ring Magazine COO Rick Reeno — who appears to have taken on more of a promoter’s role after leaving Boxing Scene, a publication he founded and edited up until last year — said it was a “significant undertaking” when they could have, instead, put the fights in front of a ticketed audience at one of the city’s iconic venues like Madison Square Garden.
But while New York could become a key character, Wednesday’s show was dominated by old rivals — Garcia, a clear fan favorite despite his suspension for a performance-enhancing drug, and Haney, who continues to be jeered regardless of whether he’s in Los Angeles for a kickoff presser or New York for fight week.
Haney took it all in his stride. “Y’all can boo or y’all can cheer,” he said. “It don’t matter. It’s all noise. When I dust Jose Ramirez up on Friday, I’ll get to your boy Ryan after. That’s it.”
Indeed, the wheels may already be in motion to set Garcia up with Haney at a later event.
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Garcia said he’d happily “whoop” Haney and his father/coach Bill Haney again after vowing to knock Romero out. Garcia did so using clear speech that contrasted how raspy he sounded in the buildup to his 2024 fight with Haney.
This was not lost on Devin or Bill.
“Without ostarine, his voice doesn’t even sound the same,” said Devin. “Your muscles have gone, your voice has gone. This motherf***** has gone!”
Bill added: “This is not the same Ryan Garcia.”
The super lightweight Garcia responded by saying that he has “multiple personalities.”
“You don’t want to see the crazy one,” he finished.
Devin and Bill’s observation was an accurate one. This Uncrowned reporter has interviewed Garcia from his days as a prospect, when he recalled to us his favorite Christmas memories of making gingerbread houses with his parents and siblings. And that Garcia seemed a world away from the one who generated negative headlines with a racist tirade on social media in 2024, leading to his expulsion from the WBC.
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This week’s Garcia is as close to the gingerbread version as we’ve seen him in recent times.
And this was not lost on Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn. “I want to say a huge congratulations to Ryan Garcia,” he said. “Because I think he’s a massive asset to the sport of boxing. And it’s great to see him looking healthy and ready to perform [on Friday].”
Noting the difference in Garcia, his coach Derrick James said: “He’s shown he’s very disciplined … and he just wants what he wants.”
Judging from Wednesday’s media event, Garcia wants a lightning-quick win over Romero to remind critics he’s as devastating off ostarine as he seemingly was on it, then to turn his attention back to Haney, in a box-office rematch that will no doubt provide even more theatrical absurdity than this fight week.
