After year out of ring, Garcia, Haney return looking to set up rematch
They need wins vs. Romero and Ramirez, respectively, in New York's Times Square to pave way to fall sequel of controversial no contest
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Just over one year has passed since Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney faced each other in one of the most hyped fights of 2024.
They put on an entertaining show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where Garcia scored three knockdowns with left hooks and won a majority decision, 115-109, 114-110 and 112-112.
But Garcia, who acted erratically throughout the promotion and bragged about partying and drinking through fight week, could not win Haney’s WBC junior welterweight title because he was 3.2 pounds over the 140-pound limit.
That was the least of his issues. Garcia also tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug Ostarine in two Voluntary Anti-Doping Association tests, one taken the day before the fight and one on fight night.
The New York State Athletic Commission changed he result of the bout to a no contest; suspended Garcia for one year from the date of the bout, April 20; fined him the maximum allowed of $10,000; and reached a settlement agreement with him under which he forfeited his entire $1.1 million official contract purse as punishment.
Haney, the former undisputed lightweight champion, eventually vacated his junior welterweight title rather than come back quickly for a mandatory defense. He opted to take time off and come to grips to his first loss, despite the official result being changed, and to deal with the mental side of the fight that had him so upset he sued Garcia for battery.
But now Garcia and Haney are back, both officially as welterweights, in 12-round bouts on Turki Alalshikh’s Ring magazine “Fatal Fury” card on Friday (DAZN PPV, 5:30 p.m. ET) that will be part of the first boxing event to take place outdoors in New York’s Times Square in what figures to be quite the spectacle. The PPV is $59.99 in the United States, but with the Canelo Alvarez-William Scull event also on pay-per-view on Saturday, DAZN is offering a bundle — both cards for $89.99 in the U.S. Prices vary by country.