Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney return to the ring on May 2 at Times Square in New York. Both fighters step through the ropes for the first time since facing each other a year ago in Brooklyn.
Garcia (24-1, 1 NC) of Victorville, CA and San Francisco’s Haney (31-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC) squared off last April with Haney’s WBC super lightweight title on the line. Garcia, however, was ineligible to lift the belt, as he missed weight by 3.2 pounds.
The scheduled 12-round contest went the full distance. On the night of the event, Garcia took the victory by majority decision with scores of 112-112, 114-110, and 115-109. Over the course of the fight, he sent Haney down to the canvas three times – in the seventh, 10th, and 11th rounds. In the seventh round, Garcia was deducted a point for punching on the break.
Garcia’s victory was later overturned to a No Contest due to a failed drug test.
Battling it out on Friday in Times Square, Ryan Garcia takes on former WBA super lightweight champion Rolando Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) of Las Vegas. Former two-division champion Devin Haney faces former unified 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) of Hanford, CA. Both bouts are scheduled for 12 rounds at welterweight.
If Garcia and Haney succeed in their next fights, the two are expected to meet in a rematch at a future event.
