If there was a fight card like this in any arena in the world, we would be discussing the appearance of some of boxing’s most eccentric, entertaining, outspoken, and controversial characters appearing on the same show.

But, that it has been audaciously-placed under the skyscrapers and flashing lights in Times Square means, inevitably, the setting has top billing. But that is no doubt part of the appeal to the fighters who will battle under the luminous New York neons, when Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero, Teofimo Lopez and Arnold Barboza, and Devin Haney and Jose Ramirez meet before the next steps at 140lbs and 147lbs can become clearer.   

This is the first extravagant location swoop by Saudi Arabian powerbroker Turki Alalshikh, who has plotted future events to take place in Central Park and on Alcatraz as he continues his shake up of the sport.

The card also kicks off a relentless weekend of action, with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez making his debut hours after this card wraps up – against William Scull – before attention turns to Las Vegas and the Sin City re-emergence of Naoya Inoue.

The Times Square bill also includes the debut of Japanese southpaw featherweight talent Reito Tsutsumi, who meets Chicago’s 1-2-1 (1 KO) Levale Whittington. 

The main card is scheduled to kick-off at 6pm Eastern.

Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jnr

WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez is already at the veteran stage of his career at the age of just 27. It feels like he has been around forever having won lineal crowns at 135 and 140lbs. His biggest wins came against Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2020, and Josh Taylor in 2023. He follows a modern trend of top fighters not boxing regularly, registering just one fight a year in 2020, 2021, and 2023, and he failed to dazzle last year against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett, winning 12-round decisions in both contests. He is 21-1 (13 KOs), and up against a man in form in Barboza. The Californian is 32-0 (11 KOs) and returned to the US on the back of ending the unbeaten run of Jack Catterall in England in February. Before that, he outscored Jose Ramirez, and in the fight before that he struggled against Sean McComb, a tough Irish southpaw. Many point to that contest and think that because Barboza had a tough night against McComb – on the Garcia-Haney bill last April – his ceiling might have been revealed. But he might have just taken the lesson on board and moved on. 

Barboza has been crying out for a breakout fight, and this is the 33-year-old’s opportunity.

“This is amazing. I’m here to ruin all of Teofimo’s plans,” he said earlier this week. “I just came from doing the same thing in Manchester. We’re here to show up and show out.”

Given Lopez’s propensity for inconsistency, he could do with a show-stealing performance, but he has not seemed himself or been boxing near his potential since Taylor, some two years ago. Clearly a gifted fighter, and clearly athletic – having performed back-flips at this week’s public workout – it is hard to pick against a name fighter with a big following because they are supposed to win. But look what happened earlier in the year when Gervonta Davis fought Lamont Roach, in a contest where boxing people were similarly saying about Roach as they are about Barboza – that he can fight. Barboza is defensively frugal and presents a difficult shell to pierce. Lopez will need to be dynamic, thoughtful with his angles, using his faster hands and variety.

“I’m just grateful and thankful to be here with everyone and show y’all the third version of Teofimo Lopez that you haven’t seen yet,” Lopez said this week.

This is arguably the least certain pick of the night, and it’s a high-quality match. If Teo is switched on and in a good place, he can win a decision. But if his mind wanders and Barboza has a rhythm by the half-way stage, it could be a high-challenging night for Lopez.

Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez 

How Devin Haney performs tonight will tell us plenty about whether the calls he made in the aftermath of his fight against Ryan Garcia were the right ones.

Haney, of course, was dropped three times on his way to a decision loss to Garcia last April, only for the result to be overturned into a No Contest after Garcia tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. 

Haney opted to sit out the remainder of the year and now returns on the same card as his former amateur rival Garcia and does so against the tough, gritty, and always game Ramirez.

Haney is 31-0 (15 KOs) (with the No Contest, too), and the 26-year-old looked visibly shocked by what came at him last April in New York. If he’s had more than a year to physically heal, have the psychological scars also dissipated?

He weighed 143lbs for tonight, with Ramirez half a pound heavier, and the talk is of Haney and Garcia rematching later in the year. But there are moving parts. Conor Benn is in town and talk surfaced of him and Garcia fighting, and Jaron “Boots’ Ennis needs a high-profile dance partner if he’s to stay at 147.

Ramirez will hope a victory here will allow him to elbow his way into the conversation. The omens are good, too. The last time he fought in New York he left with a championship belt around his waist having won the vacant WBC junior welterweight belt against Amir Ahmed Imam. 

“I know he’s a very talented fighter. He’s a good fighter,” Ramirez admitted. “But on Friday, May 2, I will beat Devin Haney. My best chapter is yet to come.”

Ramirez has endured a run of fights that includes Maurice Hooker, Viktor Postol, Josh Taylor, Jose Pedraza (twice), Richard Commey, Rances Barthelemy and Barboza. To beat him you have to put in a hard shift. The 32-year-old is 29-2 (18 KOs), and likely hits hard enough to earn Haney’s respect but not hard enough to stop him. It’s become all too easy to forget how impressive Haney was in the fight before Garcia, widely-outscoring Regis Prograis in San Francisco, dropping him early and winning every round. If Haney, post-Garcia, is back in business, then he should be able to earn a lop-sided decision.

Haney has become the villain of boxing, and has been roundly booed this week.

“Y’all can boo or y’all can cheer,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s all noise. When I dust Jose Ramirez off on Friday, I’m gonna get to Ryan after… I get to Jose Ramirez on Friday and then everyone here knows who’s next.”

Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero

Next up on the night is Ryan Garcia, and he meets Rolly Romero – the two have previously sparred – after Garcia had his boxing license reinstated last month following his suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission. 

“I’m here to do my job, knock Rolly out and ride off into the sunset,” said Garcia. “I’m not worried about any sparring from eight years ago. I’m here to do a job, and that’s it. We’re not leaving it up to the judges, Rolly is getting put to sleep.”

The last time the enigmatic Garcia was in the ring, he was whipping in left hooks that Haney couldn’t stop, and on his return he has never been bigger. That speaks volumes about the sport, fame, and notoriety, and how the system works with those failing drug tests reappearing rapidly with marquee opportunities.

Of course, for Haney, Garcia had also blown the weight in what represented a tough and tumultuous build-up, where the topic of Garcia’s mental health went under the microscope. This is not just a big platform and a significant fight, but the WBA have blessed it with their secondary title – Ennis holds the actual belt.

So in his first fight at the weight, coming off a ban, Garcia gets to fight for a belt. Romero is coming in having lost two of his last four. Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz stopped him in eight and six rounds respectively. Against the swarming pressure of Cruz, Romero was overwhelmed.

Romero won a wide 10-round decision against Manuel Jaimes last September, but even in the fight before Cruz he danced with defeat when losing on the scorecards to Ismael Barroso before a rapid-fire and controversial referee stoppage in his favor. 

The 26-year-old Garcia is 24-1 (20 KOs) with the No Contest. His stoppage loss came when “Tank” Davis caught him with a sickening body shot. Romero is 29 and has a 16-2 (13 KOs) record. He punches hard, but the Las Vegas man is far more cumbersome and crude than the fleet-footed and fast-handed Garcia, and speed will likely play a key role in New York. 

“I’m gonna knock Ryan out and he can go have fun with Devin afterwards,” said Romero. “I actually think Devin deserves the rematch with Ryan.”

There is a slender chance that Romero can catch Garcia coming in and crash in a shot that can hurt Garcia, but a zoned in Garcia will likely not suffer that kind of lapse and he might even be able to dispose of Romero by the mid-way mark.

“I’m here living life,” Garcia said this week. “Everyone goes through their ups and downs. It’s about how you bounce back. I’m here to show people that you can bounce back from anything.”