Notebook: Garcia, Haney, Teofimo set for May 2 Times Square card
WBC division updates; Sheeraz injury; Teraji-Akui unification card lands on ESPN+; Quick hits; Show and tell
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When Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh announced on Jan. 20 that he had brokered a deal that would see bitter rivals Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia fight separate opponents in the spring and then, assuming they win, square off in a high-profile rematch in the fall all of the details were not all quite done.
Eventually their opponents were revealed — former junior welterweight titlist Rolando Romero for Garcia and former unified junior welterweight titlist Jose Ramirez for Haney — and on Friday, Alalshikh announced more key details.
The pay-per-view tripleheader will also include lineal/WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez in a mandatory defense against Arnold Barboza and the show will take place in the unusual, but extremely high profile, location of outdoors in Times Square in the heart of New York City. Details on how seating and tickets will be handled were not announced.
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The card will be branded as an event put on by The Ring magazine, the famed 103-year-old boxing publication Alalshikh, who heads Riyadh Season and is the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, bought from Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya for $10 million late last year. The show is titled “Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves” after the forthcoming re-launch of the SNK video game.
“For the first time ever, Times Square will transform into a world-class boxing venue, hosting an electrifying three-fight card,” Alalshikh’s announcement boasted.
Garcia is due to face Romero (16-2, 13 KOs), 29, of Las Vegas, who got the fight when Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz turned it down, for the vacant WBA “regular” welterweight title. The fight will be Garcia’s first since he won a majority decision over Haney on April 20, 2024 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
However, Garcia failed multiple drug tests for the banned substance Ostarine. The result was changed to a no contest and Garcia was suspended for a year, fined the maximum $10,000, and he also forfeited his $1.1 million purse as part of a settlement of the case with the New York State Athletic Commission.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs), 26, of Los Angeles, also was ineligible to box for Haney’s WBC junior welterweight belt in the fight because he was overweight.
Haney, the former undisputed lightweight champion, has since vacated his junior welterweight title and will move up to welterweight to face Ramirez, who is also moving up in weight. If Garcia and Haney win they would meet in a rematch this fall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Before the deal could be finalized Garcia had to agree to extensive drug testing. According to Haney’s team, after putting up a fight against it, Garcia recently enrolled in a VADA testing program for the May 3 fight. The program will extend through the fall fight, meaning he can be tested at any time in the months between May 3 and the fall bout.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), 26, of Las Vegas, has already taken the unusual step of enrolling in a year-long program that will allow him to be VADA-tested at any time throughout the year.
Garcia, who has had misgivings about VADA — the gold standard of boxing drug testing — will also be tested randomly by the California State Athletic Commission, according to his team.
Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs), 32 of Avenal, California, is coming off a 10-round decision loss to Barboza on the “Latino Night” card Alalshikh put on with Golden Boy on Nov. 16 in Riyadh.
Former lineal and unified lightweight champion Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs), 27, of Las Vegas, will make his third junior welterweight title defense against Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs), 33, of Los Angeles, who earned the mandatory fight with a split decision over Jack Catterall in a final eliminator on Feb.15 in Catterall’s backyard in Manchester, England.
Lopez is promoted by Top Rank but it has signed off on Lopez going forward with a three-fight deal with Alalshikh.
Initially, an IBF heavyweight title eliminator between Efe Ajagba and Martin Bakole had been announced for the card, but that fight is off after Bakole took a fight with WBO interim titlist Joseph Parker on three days’ notice and got knocked out in the second round in the co-feature of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, after which the IBF told Fight Freaks Unite it would no longer agree to sanction the bout given Bakole’s loss.
Lamont Roach Jr. interview
If you missed the recent podcast episode that included my one-on-one interview with WBA junior lightweight titlist Lamont Roach Jr. ahead of his move up in weight to challenge WBA lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis in Saturday’s PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view, we broke it out separately and you can listen to it here. Give it a listen, a review, and also subscribe to get an alert when the next episode is available. New shows every Thursday and Sunday night (and occasional special episodes like this one).
WBC division updates
The WBC this week issued a division-by-division update for each of its titles. Some have remained the same since the previous update but here is what is new:
Bridgerweight: Titlist Kevin Lerena will defend the title at home in South Africa against Serhiy Radchenko on May 1.
Cruiserweight: Titleholder Badou Jack is supposed to make a mandatory defense against Canadian Ryan Rozicki on April 26 in Rozicki’s hometown of Sydney, Nova Scotia. Rozicki promoter Three Lions Promotions won the rights to the bout earlier this month as the lone bidder ($325,000) at a purse bid.
Light heavyweight: In the wake of Dmitry Bivol defeating Artur Beterbiev in their rematch last Saturday to become the undisputed champion, the WBC said Bivol must next fight interim titlist and mandatory challenger David Benavidez. However, not only is there a good chance of Bivol-Beterbiev III next, the IBF is supposed to be up next in the mandatory rotation system with its No. 1 contender, Michael Eifert, who took a step-aside deal to permit the rematch.
Middleweight: Carlos Adames owed two mandatory defenses in a row. He handled one of them in a draw with Hamzah Sheeraz on the Beterbiev-Bivol II card and next is supposed to fight the second mandatory bout against Meirim Nursultanov.
Welterweight: The final eliminator to become mandatory for titleholder Mario Barrios between Souleymane Cissokho and Egidijus Kavaliauskas was slated for Dec. 7 but postponed when Cissokho suffered a broken hand. The WBC said it has been rescheduled for May 3 in Equatorial Guinea.
Junior welterweight: If Alberto Puello retains the title against Sandor Martin on Saturday he will be allowed a voluntary defense. Dalton Smith has been formally recognized as the mandatory challenger, although he will risk that position in a bout in England on April 19, according to the WBC.
Junior featherweight: The WBC said undisputed champion Naoya Inoue will defend on May 5, though that event has not been announced. He is supposed to be coming to Las Vegas for his next fight with co-promoter Top Rank mentioning that date.
Junior flyweight: A purse bid for an immediate rematch of Carlos Canizales’ highly controversial majority decision title loss to Panya Pradabsri on Dec. 26 in Thailand, Pradsbari’s home country, is scheduled for March 19.
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked three fights on Saturday’s PBC Prime Video pay-per-view card: WBA titlist Gervonta Davis against Lamont Roach Jr.; WBA junior welterweight titlist Jose Valenzuela versus Gary Antuanne Russell; and WBC junior welterweight titlist Alberto Puello against Sandor Martin. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Sheeraz hand injury
When middleweight contender and favorite Hamzah Sheeraz was held to a draw challenging WBC titleholder Carlos Adames many thought Adames was the clear winner.
In the end, the judges had it a split draw, 114-114, 115-114 for Sheeraz and 118-110 for Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs), 30, of the Dominican Republic, who retained the title for the second time on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II undercard last Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
One of the reasons for Sheeraz’s less-than-impressive performance and distinct lack of urgency likely was because of the broken left hand he suffered early in the bout.
“It was good to catch up with Hamzah Sheeraz back from Riyadh,” Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren posted to social media. “Unfortunately, Hamzah sustained an injury early in his fight; once healed I have no doubt Hamzah will become a world champion.”
Along with Warren’s comment, he also posted a photo of Sheeraz’s hands, which clearly shows damage to his left hand.
Before the 12th round, trainer Ricky Funez pleaded with Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs), 25, of England, to go for a knockout but he never came close to one and saw the end of a 15-fight knockout streak, which included stoppages of Liam Williams, Austin “Ammo” Williams and Tyler Denny — his three best opponents other than Adames — in his previous three bouts.
Teraji-Akui on ESPN+
The Teiken Promotions world title tripleheader scheduled for March 13 at Ryoguko Kokugikan Sumo Arena in Tokyo will stream live on ESPN+ (4 a.m. ET) in the United States, Top Rank announced on Friday.
In the main event, WBC flyweight titlist Kenshiro Teraji and WBA titlist Seigo Yuri Akui will fight in a rare all-Japanese unification bout.
Teraji (24-1, 15 KOs), 33, vacated the unified WBC/WBA junior flyweight title and moved up in weight and won the vacant WBC crown in his last bout, an 11th-round knockout of Cristofer Rosales on Oct. 13 in Tokyo. Teraji will take part in his 17th consecutive world title bout covering two weight classes.
Also on the Oct. 13 card, Akui (21-2-1, 11 KOs), 29, made his second defense and won a split decision over Thailand’s Thananchai Charunphak in a prelude to the eventual unification fight.
Also on March 13:
WBO flyweight titlist Anthony Olascuaga (8-1, 6 KOs), 26, of Los Angeles, will make his second defense against Japan’s Hiroto Kyoguchi (19-2, 12 KOs), 31, a former strawweight and junior flyweight titleholder seeking a belt in a third division.
WBO junior flyweight titlist Shokichi Iwata (14-1, 11 KOs), 29, of Japan, will make his first defense against mandatory challenger Rene Santiago (13-4, 9 KOs), 32, of Puerto Rico, a former WBO interim titlist.
Quick hits
Weights from Gatineau, Canada, for the Matchroom Boxing/Groupe Yvon Michel card on Friday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET): Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez 129.4 pounds, Rene Tellez Giron 131.6 (Giron 1.6 pounds overweight and is ineligible for the regional title at stake); Alexis Barriere 236.8, Ubaldo Ilagor 291.4; Derek Pomerleau 162.2, Nathan McIntosh 157.4; Jelena Mrdjenovich 125.8, Jessica Bellusci 125.6.
Weights from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, for the Salita Promotions/Fresh Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 7 p.m. ET): Subriel Matias 139.8 pounds, Gabriel Valenzuela 139.8 (IBF junior welterweight eliminator); Alfredo Santiago 139.8, Javier Fortuna 146.6 (Fortuna 6.6 pounds overweight, cannot win regional belt at stake); Nestor Bravo 140, Xolisani Ndongeni 140; Pryce Taylor 267.2, Trevor Kotara 235.4; Jean Guerra Vargas 129.8, Alexander Meija 129.4.
Weights from Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET): Lewis Crocker 146.7 pounds, Paddy Donovan 146.1 (IBF welterweight eliminator); Craig Richards 174.9, Padraig McCrory 174.9; Kurt Walker 126.8, Leon Woodstock 126; Tommy McCarthy 199.5, Steven Ward 199.7; Ruadhan Farrell 123.7, Gerard Hughes 124.3; Shauna Browne 134.5, Eif Nur Turhan 134.9; Jack O'Neill 124.1, Mohammed Wako 122.9; Aaron Bowen 161.2, Juan Cruz Cacheiro 171.3.
British heavyweight Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) has withdrawn from an eight-rounder against Patrick Korte (22-4-1, 18 KOs) that was set to take place on the Queensberry Promotions card headlined by Ryan Garner-Salvador Jimenez on Saturday in Bournemouth, England. While no reason was announced it shouldn’t come as a shock since Joyce was taking the fight just a month before he is set to face countryman Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs) in the main event of an April 5 card in Manchester, England, that will kick off Queensberry’s new exclusive deal with DAZN. When Joyce-Whyte was announced, Joyce said he would still go through with the tune-up fight, but apparently plans changed. BoxingScene first reported the turn of events.
Junior lightweight prospect Jonathan “Geo” Lopez (17-0, 12 KOs), 21, of Orlando, Florida, was set for the eight-round opener of the free stream of preliminaries on Prime Video on Saturday (6 p.m. ET) before the start of the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach Jr. PPV main card (8 p.m. ET). But opponents dropped out and his fight was canceled. PBC instead has added other undercard bouts to the preliminary stream: welterweight David Whitmire (8-0, 6 KOs), 19, of Washington, D.C., against Angel Munoz (7-0, 5 KOs), 22, a southpaw from San Bernardino, California, in a six-rounder and lightweight Deric Davis (5-0, 5 KOs), 22, of Fort Washington, Maryland, versus Jamal Johnson (2-0, 1 KO), 32, of Baltimore, in a four-rounder. The final fight remains a 10-round middleweight bout between former unified junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd (25-3-1, 17 KOs) against Johan Gonzalez (35-4, 34 KOs).
Super middleweight Erik Bazinyan (32-1-1, 23 KOs), 29, sprained a ligament in his right ankle during a recent training session that will sideline him for a few weeks, forcing him to withdraw from an all-Montreal fight with Steven Butler (35-5-1, 29 KOs), 29, that was scheduled to headline a card at Theatre St-Denis in Montreal on March 14 on ESPN+. With the main event off, Eye of the Tiger announced the entire show has been postponed. “It’s a heartbreaking decision, but it would have been disrespectful and inconsiderate to our fans to move forward with the event despite the withdrawal of the main event when people had purchased their tickets specifically to see that fight,” EOTT’s Camille Estephan said.
Top Rank has declined to renew the contract of bantamweight prospect Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz, 21, of Las Vegas, according to the company. Diaz (13-0, 3 KOs) had his contract recently expire. Diaz turned pro on a Top Rank card in MGM Grand “bubble” during Covid in February 2021. He last fought in September in a decision over Mario Hernandez on the Mikaela Mayer-Sandy Ryan undercard at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The win was his fifth eight-round decision in a row.
Show and tell
It was a battle for lightweight supremacy as Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez, the lineal 135-pound champion, traveled to former unified titlist Juan Diaz’s hometown of Houston to meet in their first fight, which everyone expected to produce fireworks. They delivered big time, even exceeding expectations, in a sensational action fight that headlined an HBO card that I covered at ringside at the Toyota Center.
Ultimately, Marquez scored a blistering ninth-round knockout to retain the lineal title and win the vacant WBO and WBA belts for good measure. The classic battle stood up as the fight of the year and it happened on Feb. 28, 2009 — 16 years ago on Friday. Here is a scarce thin cardboard site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Haney-Garcia: Sumio Yamada/WBC; Sheeraz: Team Sheeraz; Hernandez-Giron: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing; Crocker-Donovan: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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Are we sure that Haney/Garcia 2 comes off? I think Devin Haney is getting cold feet. No sooner did Ryan (looking jacked) post himself working the Cobra Bag under the watchful eye of Eddie Reynoso. Did hours later Haney start barking at the equally “Pillow Fisted” Shakur Stevenson (please god no). Coincidence? Speaking of which, that Juan Díaz vs JMM was definitely a fun fight. But because Díaz’s lack of power (couldn’t crack an egg), it really was only a matter of time before Marquez bagged him.