NEW YORK (AP) — Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez won their matches Friday night in boxing's trip to Times Square, easily handling a scene they had never experienced in the ring.
Then Ryan Garcia followed — in a Batmobile.
Haney, returning to the ring for the first time since his fight with Garcia last April 20, scored a dominant unanimous decision over Jose Ramirez in a matchup of former 140-pound champions.
Earlier, Lopez defended the belt he has in the junior welterweight championship with a unanimous decision over Arnold Barboza Jr.
Lopez was the first of what organizers called three events on the card, with Haney following against Ramirez before Garcia took on Rolando “Rolly” Romero.
Haney and Lopez looked like themselves. So much going on around them looked nothing like a normal big-fight night.
The usual ring girls who hold up signs with the number of the upcoming round were replaced by actors imitating celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Hulk Hogan and Snoop Dogg.
Fighters were delivered from the hotel a couple of blocks away by cars, with Lopez arriving in a traditional yellow taxicab and Garcia coming in Batman's vehicle. The cars had to stop at traffic lights in between before pulling up outside the ring for the fighters to take a shortened ring walk.
Haney (32-0) won by scores of 119-109 twice and 118-110 on the other card, repeatedly catching Ramirez (29-3) coming in with counter punches off the ropes.
Lopez won 118-110 on one judge's card and 116-112 on the other two after controlling the fight with his advantages in hand and foot speed.
The Brooklyn product who has fought in title bouts in Madison Square Garden put on a strong performance in a venue unlike the famed arena 10 blocks to the south.
He improved to 22-1, celebrating in front of his hometown fans with his arms raised in the shadows of the pole from where the ball drops on New Year's Eve in New York's tourist center.
Boxers such as Mike Tyson, Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson had seats outside the ring along with New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns and — this being Times Square — a couple of people wearing Elmo costumes. A drummer performed earlier in the night while waiting for the next bout to begin.
Turki Alalshikh, the head of Riyadh Season and the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, wanted something unique for Ring Magazine's first boxing card in the U.S. after purchasing it last year.
Thus began the plan to fight in Times Square, bypassing Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center for the trip to New York.
Seventh Avenue remained open to traffic — with cars being held only briefly when the fighters' cars crossed over — with orange fencing blocking the view of fans standing across the street wondering what was happening inside.
Those who did have ringside access — and it was unclear how many did or how they got it — could pass the time between bouts reading the ticker that scrolled along the outside of ABC's Times Square studios just above the ring.
The event marked the return to the ring for both Garcia and Haney for the first time since Garcia's victory in Brooklyn was overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was suspended for a year. They were expected to pursue a rematch if both won Friday.
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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
