Turki Al Sheikh just announced that Ryan Garcia will face former WBA light welterweight champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero, Devin Haney will face Jose Ramirez, and Martin Baculli will face Efe Ajagba on the same card in May. This is expected to be shown on PPV from Times Square in New York.
Triceps battles
- Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero
- Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez
- Martin Bakool vs. Efi Ajagba
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) had a tough fight, taking on former WBA and WBO lightweight champion Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs). I wonder if this was Bill Haney's clever idea to match Devin against this guy. He could live to regret fighting this battle.
Rolly Romero (16-2, 13 KO) is a surprise opponent for Ryan as Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz was the name he was rumored to be fighting. Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN Knockout reported that “no andfinancial agreement” He can be reached with Isaac Cruz. Hence, Rolly was recruited as a rival to Ryan Garcia.
Cruz knocked out Broly in the eighth round last year on March 30 in a title mismatch. For Ryan to fight Rowley, it suggests he doesn't want to risk losing with him after his long 13-month absence.
“Unfortunately for “Pitbull” Cruz there was no financial agreement. Rolly Romero stepped in. Promoting the fight in May will be good. We are waiting for details about Times Square or the arena where the fight will take place… 🥊🥊🥊,” Salvador Rodriguez said on XExplaining why Isaac Cruz should not be used as a competitor to Ryan Garcia.
This was a fight that could have excited the crowd, but it would have been too much of a risk for Garcia because Cruz can actually fight. Rulli has played in two of his four matches, and some feel he would have lost the third had it not been for the bizarre stoppage in his match against Ismael Barroso in May 2023.
This was where the referee suddenly stopped the fight after Rowley threw a series of punches, all of which crashed into the air. Then he raised Rolly's hand in the air, giving him a knockout win, leaving Barroso standing there saying: “What's going on here.” That was very strange. The referee looked like he was coming on a flying saucer from a distant world, and saw a fight, “Oh, let me stop him.”
Interestingly enough, a rematch for Barroso was not made, which made things look even worse for Rowley. There had to be one, because that was so bad. You had to feel sorry for Barroso because he's not a young man, and it was sad to see him treated like that.
Ring Magazine is pleased to announce its first boxing card in the USA in May 2025 in collaboration with the video game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (after which the card will be named) and SNK Games.
The card includes three battles:
Ryan Garcia vs Rolando Romero
Devin Haney… pic.twitter.com/hJVEMd91z7– Turki Al-Sheikh (@Turki_alalshikh) January 20, 2025
