Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney have entered into multi-fight agreements with Riyadh Season, pacts that will ideally lead to a lucrative rematch.
The bitter rivals are both now aligned with the group headed by Turki Alalshikh, who is also the newest owner of The Ring and its components. The two will begin their respective deals with separate fights on the same May show to be held in the United States.
It was widely reported that wins by Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs; 1 No-Contest) and Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) will lead to a second fight against each later this fall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Garcia will first face former WBA junior welterweight titlist Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) in the main event of Alalshikh’s first Ring Magazine USA show. Their bout will take place at welterweight, as will Haney’s clash with former unified WBC/WBO 140-pound titlist Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs).
The May event will be called Fatal Fury: City of The Wolves - as part of a collaboration between Ring Magazine and SNK Games. The game is scheduled for an April 24 release, with those who pre-order enjoying early access on the 21st, only available on
PlayStation,
Steam and
Xbox.
Both fighters met separately with Alalshikh in London during The Ring Annual Awards show in January.
Among the discussions that took place were the best moves for each fighter, which ultimately was a path to a sequel to their controversial April 20 clash at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia was initially credited with a majority decision win, though ineligible to win Haney’s WBC 140-pound title after he badly missed weight.
The official verdict was later changed to a No-Contest after it was learned that Garcia tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine. Garcia claimed—and continues to claim—contamination from supplements used during training camp, but it still led to his being issued a one-year suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC).
Neither fighter has entered the ring since then.
Haney vacated his WBC 140-pound title in lieu of what he deemed an uninspiring mandatory title defense against Spain’s Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs). He later professed that he was done at 140 and will now campaign full-time at welterweight.
Garcia always planned to do so and will weigh above the junior welterweight limit for the third straight time. This time, it will come with greater purpose and perhaps even a shot at one or more of the welterweight titles—if he beats Romero and Haney and wants what’s beyond that.
For now, Garcia and Haney are the latest to join a movement that already includes most of the sport’s most talented athletes.
Haney is now the sixth fighter in The Ring’s pound-for-pound list to sign with Riyadh Season. That batch includes the entire top-five—Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs), Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs), Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs).
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.