Boxing
King Ryan Garcia Returns, The Rest Want The Crown
While former lightweight champion King Ryan Garcia no longer holds a title, he’s got the name capable of drawing attention to boxing. The knights of the boxing round table named Haney, Lopez, Romero, Ramirez, and Barboza all want to ascend to that throne.
They will start their quest on Saturday, May 2, in Times Square in New York on the card organized by Riyadh Season and Ring Magazine, featuring three fights that could all be main events:
Ryan Garcia of Los Angeles (24-1, 20 KOs) vs Rolando “Rolly” Romero of Las Vegas (16-2, 13 KOs)
Teofimo Lopez of Las Vegas (21-1, 13 KOs) vs Arnold Barboza Jr. of Los Angeles (32-0, 11 KOs)
Devin Haney of Las Vegas (31-0, 15 KOs) vs Jose Carlos Ramirez of Avenal, California (29-2, 18 KOs).
The fighters and the event, “Fatal Fury in Times Square,” were introduced at a news conference in New York. The outdoor setting was chilly, and all the fighters from Las Vegas and California were dressed for the cold.
Lopez Lives Up To Nickname “The Takeover”
But not Brooklyn-born Teofimo Lopez, who wore overalls with one shoulder strap dropped, showing a bare chest. The look conveyed his attitude throughout the presser. Lopez and his opponent, Barboza Jr., nearly took over the event before it could get started with a heated exchange.
“It’s time for me to take over again like I always do,” said Lopez.
“He’s 32, and oh, he just got an interim world title,” said Lopez of his opponent Barboza Jr. “I had 15 fights, I got my first world title, and I won it at Madison Square Garden, and then became undisputed at 16 fights. Like, and I’m only 27 (years old).”
Barboza Jr., the only genuinely undefeated fighter among the six, wasn’t having it.
“You didn’t give a fucking right answer, bro,” said Barboza Jr. “You beat around the bush when they say, ‘How come you didn’t accept this fight back then?’
“Hey bro, you want to woof and talk like you’re big and bad, bro, fighting the injured Loma (Vasiliy Lomachenko) and injured (Josh) Taylor,” said Barboza Jr.
When Lopez clapped back that he has the WBO World Super Lightweight and Ring Magazine lightweight titles, while Barboza Jr. holds the WBO Interim Super Lightweight title, it was on.
“I’m taking, trust me, I’m taking that Ring Magazine title,” spat Barboza Jr.
“You do your thing. I’m the only real champion in this bitch,” replied Lopez. “I’m the only world champion sitting here right now! I’m the universe champion!”
“I earned my shit! I traveled into hostile territory. You get your shit given to you on a plate. Ain’t no one doing what I’m doing. I’m fighting three of the top five guys in a seven-month span. Call me an old-school fighter,” said Barboza Jr., and the pair kept at it until moderator Doug Fischer of Ring Magazine finally shut down the yelling.
“Teo is fighting me at the worst time he could fight me. I’m coming off of two victories in a five-month span. The train is going. I’m going to shock the world again. I shocked the world in Manchester, I shocked it in Saudi, and I’m coming to New York and going to shock it again in your hometown,” said Barboza Jr.
Lopez also turned himself on Richardson Hitchins, who was in the audience goading Lopez to engage with him, and they got into it. “Me and you fight next!” said Hitchins. “Real fighters fight bro, that’s it,” said Lopez.
The pair continued to trade barbs, with Fischer asking them to save some of it for May 2nd.
Devin Haney Looking To Shut Up Critics
Devin Haney vows to answer all of his critics with a statement performance against Jose Ramirez in his first fight back since Ryan Garcia.
Haney said he wanted to spend time with his family during his break from the ring. “I wanted to rest and recover, and I wanted to come back when I felt it was the right time.
“When I came back, I wanted to fight the best fighters in the world. I didn’t want to just face no any regular Joe Blow. I wanted to fight a two-time world champion like Jose Ramirez, and that’s why we picked him,” said Haney.
“At the end of the day, I fought somebody on PEDs. That’s how that fight was. We move forward. The world wants to see what DH’s gonna show up. I look to give everybody those answers May 2nd.”
Similarly to Haney, Ramirez is coming off a losing performance against Barboza Jr. It’s a must-win fight for both men. Ramirez blamed his performance on staying at 140 pounds too long.
“I’m a guy with no excuses, man. I’m a guy who never says no. I think I did that to myself, It’s time for me to to grow and move up to the next week class at 147.
“What I’ve been doing in sparring against guys who are world champions, as we speak, guys who are talked about as future world champions. I know what I’ve done to them in sparring.
“So, I know what I’m capable of. Come May 2nd, I’ll go out there and make it a fight, show the best version of Jose Ramirez, a bigger bull than what people have seen me in the last couple fights.”
Cool Version of King Ryan Gets Heated Up
Garcia was impeccably dressed and keeping his cool, a different personality than during his fight buildup with Haney over a year ago.
“We’re gonna make it a big fight,” promised Romero. “We’re gonna make it one of the biggest fights in the in U.S. history, and that’s for sure.
As Fischer talked about Romero moving up to the welterweight division, he was interrupted by Lopez, who couldn’t keep quiet any longer. It brought out the fired-up version of Ryan Garcia and into the conversation.
“Enough of this shit, you guys are talking so boring!” yelled Lopez. “Enough of this shit. I’m going to run this too!” responded Garcia.
Fischer brought the conversation back to Garcia as Lopez kept mouthing off.
Garcia spoke openly about his issues in the past, saying he wants to earn back the boxing fans’ respect: “Being a true professional, I admit my wrongs. I don’t want anybody to take my actions of drinking and smoking before the fight and think that’s a way to handle yourself as a professional. I came here to change that. This is my first fight to get respect back, and prove it wasn’t a fluke.”
Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, said, “I think boxing needs Ryan Garcia. I think boxing without Ryan Garcia is not the same sport.
“I think him facing Rolly is going to be exciting. It’s going to be one of those fights where you just don’t want to miss it. Look, Rolly throws bombs. He’s a fighter that can come and fight. You don’t know where those bombs are coming from, but if they land, they can do some damage.”
Coming off a year outside the ring, De La Hoya added about Garcia, “He’s hungry. He’s hungry to get on top. He’s hungry to be world champion. He’s ready to get on top of the boxing world.”
How Will The Times Square Fight Card Work?
Ring Magazine Chief Operation Officer Rick Reeno explained the reasons for staging this card in Times Square.
We could have staged this event anywhere. We could have put it in any venue in New York, any venue in LA, any venue in Las Vegas, and it would have sold out. We wanted to do something special, something iconic,” said Reeno, saying any other venue would have been just another big card.
“We wanted something that, like 25 years from now, people would look back and say, ‘Oh, my God, can you believe they staged that crazy event in the heart of Times Square?’ Even for the six guys up here, they could tell their kids, their grandkids, decades from now, ‘I fought in Times Square.” not that I fought in the garden or Barclays or the MGM.
“We didn’t want to do the same cookie-cutter type of events. No offense to my promotional partners up here, but we wanted something that was out of the box, something that people would think was insane. You know, we first got this concept on paper, everyone thought it was just, we’re just talking … it’s never going to happen. How are these guys going to do it?
“You know, I’ve seen the concepts, and it’s going to blow everyone away. And I look forward to seeing everybody in May,” concluded Reeno.
Only 300 personally invited guests will be sitting ringside in seats. Events in Times Square are not permitted to sell tickets. While fans may be allowed to crowd around the perimeter, this is, first and foremost, an event staged for pay-per-view broadcasts. Stay tuned.
See the full Fatal Fury presser video replay below.
