Cinco de Mayo weekend is set to be, quite possibly, the best three-day span in the sport’s history. Saturday will feature Canelo Alvarez, followed by Naoya Inoue on Sunday. But before they take their respective rings, Friday night is set to be a spectacle. In the middle of Times Square in New York, three stars will fight their own battles back-to-back-to-back.
Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez will all feature on the same card, against opponents who are not considered easy by any stretch of the imagination. Lopez might have the toughest matchup on paper, but Garcia’s fight will draw more attention due to his opponent, Rolly Romero. The outspoken Romero knows how to grab headlines, and has already gotten the party started with the fight a little bit away.
Romero gave an interview to BoxingScene recently where he shed some light on the how the Garcia fight came about. In essence, Romero called Garcia to replace Isaac Cruz, who had fallen through as Garcia’s opponent. Garcia answered the phone and accepted.
I just made a phone call. I wouldn’t even say I talked my way into it. Let me ask you this: What fight would be better for Ryan at this point? What other options were there? There was no other option.
Cruz fell through because he wouldn’t have had time to recover and prepare following his February 1 fight. Cruz defeated Angel Fierro by unanimous decision and is now likely waiting for Garcia. “Pitbull” already knocked out Romero last March.
Rolly Romero reached out to Ryan Garcia when he struggled with depression
During his interview, Romero also spoke about how his initial hate towards Garcia washed away once he learned Garcia was struggling with depression. The two had sparred several times when they were younger, which led to some tension. But that subsided when Romero reached out to him.
So I DM’d Ryan and asked for his number. He was like [no[, and I’m like, ‘No, some things are bigger than boxing’. He gave me his number. We talked. And we’ve been good ever since. There’s no beef between me and Ryan.
That tension may come back, at least for one night, on May 2 in Times Square.
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