NEW YORK -- What was supposed to be a memorable event ended up being a night that lacked action and 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 a lackluster decision, but Rolando "Rolly" Romero disrupted those plans by pulling off a massive upset by beating Garcia by unanimous decision in an underwhelming night of fights against the unique setting of Times Square.
The expectation was for Garcia and Romero to deliver fireworks without need for the ringside judges to weigh in on the fight. 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 unanimous decision and a massive upset with scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 118-109.
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 last year, Haney (32-0, 1 NC) was skilled enough to thwart the advances of a plodding Jose Ramirez (29-3) in a painfully sluggish fight that saw a total of 503 punches thrown.
Plans for a Garcia-Haney rematch may still be in place as a contract was reportedly signed ahead of Friday night. However, due to how their respective fights played out, it will be interesting to see if that fight materializes in 2025.
See below for updates, results and round-by-round analysis from New York City.
