Ryan Garcia tops the bill in Times Square this Friday against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero in a bid to set up a rematch with Devin Haney.
Ryan Garcia has just one win in the last three years on his record after losing to Gervonta Davis in 2023 and having his win over Devin Haney last year overturned to a no-contest.
The 24-1 fighter looks to get a solid win on his record before going in with Haney once more perhaps later this year.
He will face former Tank-opponent Rolando Romero at the top of a card which also features Haney vs Jose Ramirez, Teofimo Lopez vs Arnold Barboza Jr. and one fight that nobody expected.
The Battle of the Badges will pit a New York firefighter against a police officer to open the Ryan Garcia card
The card, which is presented by The Ring, will feature five fights – the three main ones and two supporting bouts.
1-2-1 Levale Whittington will face debutant Reito Tsutsumi in a featherweight contest before Lopez, Haney, and Garcia’s fights, but the fight before that is one that’s grabbed the attention of many.
New York’s historic event will open with a battle between two of their finest, a New York firefighter – James Gennari, against an NYPD officer – Joel Allen.
Details of Gennari and Allen’s boxing background is sparse, though there is a BoxRec profile for Gennari, detailing an amateur record of 1-3, with one of his losses coming in an event that pitted the New York Fire Department against The Irish Garda.
As of March 2024, FDNY’s Facebook page suggested Gennari has had 22 fights.
BoxRec has just one recorded bout for Joel Allen, which is his appearance at the Golden Gloves quarter-final in 2018, which he lost on a unanimous decision, though this again is likely just a fraction of his amateur background.
The Ring hopes to stage a show at another bizarre location… a prison
Turki Alalshikh has big plans for The Ring cards, and told journalist Mike Coppinger of numerous locations he wanted to stage events in.
Alalshikh told Coppinger for The Ring magazine: “I want different places to do [fights]. Sometimes in mountains, maybe someday in the Pyramids in Mexico, someday in [the] Eiffel Tower in France, [The] Coliseum in Italy.”
He also suggested he hopes to do a card in Alcatraz prison this year, and spoke on even more locations he’d like to host at:
“Also, the mountain. [Mount] Rushmore, there [in South Dakota]. Or also, the big aircraft [carrier, The Intrepid], yeah, in New York, there. You understand me? Strange places. You know what I mean now? In front of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. You understand me now? I am thinking to do something there.”
This Friday’s fight may set up a mega rematch between Haney, who had a brutal spar with Tank Davis, and Garcia, who was beaten in sparring by Romero.