On paper, it made perfect sense: Stage a high-stakes fight card in the middle of New York’s Times Square, put some of boxing’s most recognizable young names front and center, and bring in a legendary voice to narrate it all.
Turki Alalshikh invested tens of millions to make it happen. But by night’s end Friday, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney had completely fumbled the moment.
The result was a couple of forgettable fights, a disjointed broadcast, and no clear future for either man.
Haney versus Jose Ramirez and Garcia against Rolly Romero were shockingly bad fights considering the stage and the stakes. Haney-Ramirez was no exaggeration one of the worst fights of the 21st century, and Garcia-Romero wasn’t much better.
Teofimo Lopez turned in a sharp, one-sided performance against Arnold Barboza, making it easily the best fight of the night. It was not exactly memorable, though, given how easily Lopez handled Barboza.
Haney-Ramirez was an F at best and, given people had to pay nearly $50 to watch it, potentially an F-minus.
Garcia, though, laid an egg nearly equally as big. He was outboxed by Romero and lost so decisively that it puts the planned multi-million dollar rematch with Haney in serious doubt.
Romero is a tough kid and insanely strong. He punches exceptionally hard. But he has so many holes defensively he’s open far more than the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson.
Garcia fought with no intensity, no purpose and seemed to have no plan. Trainer Derrick James was urging him between rounds to compete, to show a little fire, but he went back out round after round intent it seemed only on avoiding Romero’s left hook. Give Romero credit. He fought with discipline he hadn't showed and didn't make the egregious mistakes he had in the past.
But, to steal a tennis term, Garcia didn't cause him to make any unforced efforts.
That hook floored Garcia in the second and seemed to sap the little fight he brought with him. Garcia didn’t seem interested in engaging after he pulled himself off the canvas.
Garcia is perceived as one of boxing’s biggest stars, but it’s more for his looks and his social media following than anything else.
He delivered a signature performance in a win over Haney on April 20, 2024, across the river at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but he failed his post-fight drug test and was suspended for a year.
This is a guy who folded when he was hit hard by Tank Davis and whose most significant win remains either a 2022 KO of a faded Javier Fortuna or a 2021 TKO of Luke Campbell.As big wins go, that’s a pretty light resume.
He’s considered a star because:
• He’s got a massive social media following.
• He’s got a crushing left hook.
• And he’s model-like handsome.
But is he a star as a fighter? He’s got the tools, but we’re nine years into his career. When are we going to see him put it together without the benefit of PEDs.
Haney-Ramirez was an absurdly poor fight. When it was over, CompuBox noted that the 503 combined thrown punches were third-fewest in its 40-year history in a 12-round fight. But then, it dropped to fourth an hour later when Garcia and Romero managed to throw only 490 combined punches.
Haney had 16 punches landed — IN TOTAL — after four rounds. Ramirez landed zero power punches in Rounds 1 and 2 and connected on zero jabs in Rounds 8 and 12.
It was beyond abysmal by both. And then Garcia and Romero nearly went out and “exceeded” it.
Garcia seemed to sleepwalk through the bout and responded to next-to-nothing.
He’s battled mental health issues for a long time. Thankfully, they seem to be in check, but his desultory effort made me wonder if the medications he took robbed him of his fight. There was no fire in him at all. He seemed angrier at the opening round of news conferences when Romero trash talked him.
When he had the chance to do something about it Friday, he did next-to-nothing.
Alalshikh’s idea to put three of the sport’s brightest young stars on a massive stage in one of America’s most iconic venues was brilliant. The matchmaking was appropriate. The fighters simply failed to deliver.
Do you care about Garcia-Haney 2 after seeing that?
I didn’t think so.
Friday night’s card was supposed to be a celebration for a sport pulling itself out of the doldrums. Instead, it felt like a funeral procession: Solemn, slow and filled with folks going through the motions.