What was supposed to be a memorable event Friday night in Times Square ended up a forgettable one that lacked action and left boxing fans unfulfilled.
The plan was for Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney to win their respective fights and meet for a highly anticipated rematch later this year.
Haney held up his end of the bargain, albeit with a lackluster decision, but Rolando “Rolly” Romero played the role of disruptor, pulling off a massive upset of Garcia by unanimous decision (115-112, 115-112, 118-109) to cap the underwhelming night of fights.
Instead, Romero (17-2) set the tone early and dropped Garcia with a left hook in Round 2. Although Garcia didn’t appear hurt, the knockdown altered the course of the fight as he went from eager to timid for the rest of the fight.
The output was the third-lowest in CompuBox history for a 12-round fight, even below the 503 punches Haney and Jose Ramirez combined to throw in the co-main event.
“He fought a good fight,” Garcia said afterward. “He caught me early. No excuses, man. Congrats to him. He did a great job, and that’s it.”
The main event followed an equally subpar effort by Haney, who was let off the hook by an opponent who was content simply following him around the ring.
Haney (32-0, 1 NC) was timid and reluctant to throw punches. However, Ramirez couldn’t capitalize. He followed Haney around the ring without a true sense of urgency. Fortunately for Haney, he was skilled enough to thwart the advances of a plodding Ramirez (29-3) in a sluggish fight that was relentlessly jeered on social media.
Of the 503 punches thrown in the fight, Haney landed 70 to Ramirez’s 40.
