Times Square boxing showdown ends in shocker: Rolando Romero stuns Ryan Garcia; Haney and Lopez also notch wins

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Garcia made a dramatic entrance to Times Square in a Batmobile, hoping to play the superhero in his much-anticipated boxing return.

But just moments into the fight, he was on his back—staring up at the glowing billboards and neon lights—after Rolando “Rolly” Romero floored him with a thunderous left hand in the second round.

Wham! Pow!

Romero went on to defeat Garcia by unanimous decision Friday night, capping a one-of-a-kind boxing spectacle with a stunning upset.

Garcia praised Romero’s power afterward but admitted the spectacle may have gotten the better of him. Stuck in slow-moving Manhattan traffic, Garcia’s post-warmup trip from the hotel to the ring took longer than expected—something even a Batmobile couldn’t fix.

When Ryan Garcia finally made it to the ring, he noticed something was off: the arena lacked a packed, energized crowd. The expected roar of support for the fan favorite was missing.

“I wasn’t a fan of that at all. It felt like a sparring match,” Garcia admitted. “You could hear everybody and it just didn’t feel authentic to me — but no excuses.”

Times Square served as the surreal backdrop for Garcia’s first bout since his suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs — a result that voided his upset win over Devin Haney and ruled it a no contest.

The plan was for Garcia and Haney to both win and set up a rematch. Only Haney held up his end, improving to 32-0 with a unanimous decision over Jose Ramirez (29-3), while Teofimo Lopez defended his junior welterweight title with a dominant win over Arnold Barboza Jr.

But the night belonged to Rolando “Rolly” Romero (17-2), who stunned Garcia (24-2) with a second-round knockdown and grew stronger as the fight wore on. He earned a unanimous decision — 115-112 on two cards and 118-109 on the third — turning what was meant to be Garcia’s redemption arc into his own breakout performance.

Romero, previously knocked out by Gervonta Davis in New York, showed humility in victory, declining to call for a fight with Haney.

“I ain’t even thinking about what’s next,” Romero said. “I think Devin and Ryan should get their rematch and make a big one.”

The Garcia who dropped Haney three times last year was nowhere in sight — a void sure to spark renewed scrutiny over the impact of banned substances on that controversial performance.

“I just think that whole year took a lot off my body — physically and mentally,” Garcia reflected.

While Haney and Lopez looked sharp, the event around them was anything but conventional.

Fighters were chauffeured from nearby hotels in quirky fashion — Lopez in a classic yellow cab, Garcia in a Batmobile — navigating Manhattan traffic and red lights before arriving for a shortened ring walk.

Ring girls were swapped for celebrity impersonators: Snoop Dogg, Hulk Hogan, Michael Jackson. Elmo roamed the area, a drummer played, and the bright lights of Times Square blinked above the ring. Few fans had true ringside access, and many watched from behind orange barriers across the street, unsure what they were witnessing.

Lopez (22-1), a Brooklyn native familiar with high-profile bouts at Madison Square Garden, embraced the moment. He raised his arms in victory beneath the glowing ball drop pole as celebrities like Mike Tyson, Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson, and Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns looked on.

The event was orchestrated by Turki Alalshikh, head of Riyadh Season and the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, as the first U.S. boxing card under his ownership of Ring Magazine. The goal: to create something never seen before — even if it meant bypassing hallowed venues like MSG or Barclays.

“It wasn’t as big as I expected it to get,” Lopez said of the event — before pausing and adding, “but it felt bigger as the night went on.”