Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney will share an outdoor card in New York.
Lopez is set to put his WBO super lightweight title up for grabs against Arnold Barboza Jr. on the May 2 card being promoted under Turki Alalshikh’s Ring Magazine banner. It was previously confirmed in January that Garcia will take on Rolando “Rolly” Romero in the night’s main event, while Garcia’s rival, Haney, will face Jose Ramirez in the co-feature, although the venue had not been finalized at that time.
In a sensational move, the eye-opening triple-header lands in Times Square.
Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) had a routine 2024, successfully defending his WBO championship against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett.
Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) edged Jack Catterall by a split decision to win the WBO interim title and become Lopez’s mandatory earlier this month. Less than two weeks later, his shot at a full world title is official.
Neither Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) nor Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) has fought since their April 2024 bout, meaning both will be ending year-long layoffs.
Garcia dropped Haney three times en route to a majority decision win, but the match was later declared a no contest after Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in a pre-fight drug test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Garcia is currently serving a one-year ban that expires on April 20, just two weeks before his return.
Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) lost his WBA super lightweight title to Isaac Cruz in March 2024 but rebounded with a 10-round decision win over Manuel Jaimes in September.
Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs), a former unified super lightweight champion, enters the Haney fight on the back of a competitive decision loss to Barboza on November’s Gilberto Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith undercard in Riyadh.
Should Garcia and Haney both win on May 2, they are expected to take part in a highly anticipated rematch against one another in October in Riyadh. Alalshikh, who would put on that fight, previously said he hopes to pit Lopez versus Jaron “Boots” Ennis on the undercard, with the Garcia vs. Haney and Lopez vs. Ennis winners and losers then facing each other, respectively, in February 2026.
Ennis first battles Eimantas Stanionis in a WBA/IBF welterweight title unification matchup April 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
