NEW YORK – Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez envision a path to reach each other for a likely welterweight title fight in 2026, and the plans begin in earnest Friday night when the pair star on the unique Times Square ring in separate bouts.
Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), has set out a plan to follow his Friday main event against former WBA 140lbs champion Rolly Romero with an early fall rematch against Devin Haney, followed by WBO 140lbs champion Lopez, 21-1 (13 KOs), and a return to meet current WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“I love that lineup,” Garcia promoter Oscar De La Hoya told reporters at a Corona Premier fight party near Times Square. “You never know what’s going to happen in boxing, but that lineup is amazing, and that’s the type of lineup that gets you to the Hall of Fame, that when all is said and done, you’re called a legend. I admire that.”
Lopez, who meets unbeaten top-ranked contender Arnold Barboza Jnr, told BoxingScene he’s casting his vision toward newly unified Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 34-0 (30 KOs), who added the WBA belt to his existing IBF strap on April 12 by stopping Eimantas Stanionis.
With Garcia fighting Romero for the WBA secondary welterweight belt, the consequences of the DAZN Cinco de Mayo weekend doubleheader that includes Canelo Alvarez’s Saturday bid to reclaim the undisputed super-middleweight title against Cuba’s IBF champion William Scull rise as four-division, unbeaten champion Terence Crawford awaits Alvarez in September.
The DAZN bundle costs less than $90.
“When you have back-to-back-to-back events on Cinco de Mayo weekend [counting Top Rank’s Naoya Inoue-headlined Sunday card in Las Vegas], this is history in the making and has never been done before,” De La Hoya said at the event.
“The fight fans … watching [these fights] are in for an amazing night of fights, and then you have Canelo. In my 45 years, I’ve never seen or been a part of any of this … DAZN is doing the best thing for the fans by giving them the best fights possible.”
De La Hoya has three fighters on the Times Square card, including former unified 140lbs champion Jose Ramirez against former two-division champion Haney and Arnold Barboza Jnr, 33, seeking his first belt against Lopez.
“I believe Golden Boy is the best at building and positioning our fighters to be in this situation,” De La Hoya said. “From there, we can’t fight for you, so you’re inside the ring – by yourself, one on one – and it’s up to go in there and shine. Every single time we speak to our fighters, it’s, ‘Go out there and make a statement. When you make a statement, you live to fight another day.’”
Before he stepped toward Haney’s father-trainer-manager, Bill Haney, over some trash talk at Wednesday’s news conference, De La Hoya criticized the elder Haney’s continued involvement in his son’s career after pursuing a lawsuit that featured a battery claim after the scandal-riddled Garcia fight last year, and then agreeing to fight the gritty Ramirez.
“I cannot believe Devin Haney has not fired his father,” De La Hoya said. “He almost ruined his career. Devin Haney’s a nice guy. His father is ruining his potential.
“I just don’t understand being off for one year, getting knocked down three times by Ryan Garcia, what his confidence level will be on fight night. Ramirez is looking sharp and he hits like a mule. We’ll see how Devin Haney reacts, and see if he can react to Ramirez’s punches.”
Also speaking at the Corona Premier event, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, who has previously promoted Alvarez and Haney, said he expects the Times Square to be a Garcia showcase.
“I think Ryan Garcia makes a statement this weekend,” Hearn said.
Dreamed up by Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh, the ring has been positioned on Broadway, covered by a tarp in case of rain, within sight of nearby skyscrapers.
“This could sell out Madison Square Garden [or] the Barclays Center but [Alalshikh] said, ‘No, I want to create a spectacle,’” Hearn said. “Coming on the back of 65,000 [who attended Chris Eubank Jnr-Conor Benn] at Tottenham and Canelo Alvarez 24 hours later in Riyadh for the undisputed [super-middleweight] championship … it’s turned out to be the most bizarre and unique and exciting seven days I’ve seen in boxing in a long time, and it keeps going on … .”
Hearn will promote the Richardson Hitchins-George Kambosos 140lbs title fight June 14 at Madison Square Garden and “Bam” Rodriguez attempting to unify the super-flyweight division July 19 outside Dallas, a card that DAZN will precede with the undisputed heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois.
DAZN also offers a July 12 card in New York featuring the WBC lightweight title fight between champion Shakur Stevenson and De La Hoya’s unbeaten contender William Zepeda.
On June 28 on DAZN, De La Hoya will promote a doubleheader of Jake Paul versus Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr and unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez versus Yuniel Dorticos at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
“It’s a pleasure and honor to be working with someone who’s really trying, really proving, really showing the world he wants to be not only a fighter, but a champion,” De La Hoya said of Paul.
“And he’s showing the world he has what it takes with the hard work and discipline he’s putting into it. Fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr is a real fight. Former world champion, incredible bloodlines. I strongly feel Jake Paul has his hands full. But ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez on the undercard means, are we going to see Jake Paul-’Zurdo’ Ramirez in the future?
“A lot of moving parts, great connections, storylines. I truly feel Jake Paul and ‘Zurdo’ on the same card can lead to a super-fight down the road.”
As for the Alvarez-Crawford super-fight, De La Hoya said his former fighter confronts an interesting match in venturing to Saudi Arabia.
“Canelo fighting at 6 a.m. … that takes a little bit on your mind, body and soul, but knowing how Canelo gets ready, he should be fine,” De La Hoya said. “Fighting a Cuban [Scull], I don’t know much about him, but I know the Cuban style is very difficult, very confusing, and if you don’t have feet and move like you’re in quicksand, it’s going to be a long night. It’s going to be intriguing to watch and see Canelo pull out another victory – that’s what he does best. Will it be tough? Absolutely.”
The kinder assessment of Alvarez, who De La Hoya famously feuded with at the 2024 Cinco de Mayo promotion, is intentional after repeatedly telling Alvarez, “F… you,” in his “clapback” segments.
“I decided I’m going to enjoy him while he’s here,” De La Hoya said of Alvarez. “Might as well enjoy it, might as well support him and not be at odds. I have no time to have a beef with anybody.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.