Ryan Garcia draws ‘Rolly’ Romero for May return fight; Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez on undercard
Ryan Garcia is sending Devin Haney to the undercard before their highly anticipated October rematch.
Garcia takes on Rolando “Rolly” Romero in the main event of a May show under Turki Alalshikh’s Ring Magazine banner, while Haney faces Jose Ramirez in the co-feature, Alalshikh announced Monday night.
It will be the first Ring Magazine card in the U.S. following Alalshikh’s purchase of the company. Although a venue or exact date has yet to confirmed, New York’s Times Square is currently believed to be the targeted destination for the show.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) and Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) haven’t fought since their April 2024 bout, which means both will end year-long layoffs when they take part in their respective May fights.
Garcia dropped Haney three times en route to a majority decision win, but the match was later declared a no contest after Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in a pre-fight drug test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Garcia is currently serving a one-year ban that expires on April 20.
While their first match was fought at super lightweight — Garcia was 3.25 pounds overweight — both Garcia and Haney will be moving up to welterweight for their May returns and subsequent October rematch in Riyadh.
Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) lost his WBA super lightweight title to Isaac Cruz in March 2024 but rebounded with a 10-round decision win over Manuel Jaimes in September. Before that, Romero was ahead on one scorecard before he was stopped by Gervonta “Tank” Davis in the sixth round in a May 2022 bout.
Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs), a former unified super lightweight champion, enters the fight on the back of a competitive decision loss to Arnold Barboza Jr. on November’s Gilberto Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith undercard in Riyadh.
Alalshikh stated on social media he wants to match IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis and WBO super lightweight titleholder Teofimo Lopez on the Garcia vs. Haney 2 undercard, with the winners and losers of the respective bouts then facing each other in February 2026.
An IBF final eliminator at heavyweight between Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) and Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) is also confirmed for the May show, with the winner set to land a shot at the victor of the Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker IBF title fight on Feb. 22.
