NEW YORK -- Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez Jr. are all locked in and ready for their respective fights after making weight Thursday ahead of their boxing tripleheader Friday night in Times Square.
Garcia (24-1, 1 no contest) weighed in at 146.8 pounds for his welterweight fight against Rolando "Rolly" Romero (16-2), who also made weight at 146.6 pounds. The contracted weight for the fight is 147 pounds.
Garcia returns to the ring for the first time since last year's decision win over Devin Haney, which was later overturned and ruled a no contest after Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug ostarine. Garcia also came in 3.2 pounds over the contracted weight of 140 pounds for that fight and was forced to forfeit a fraction of his fight purse to Haney. Garcia was subsequently suspended for one year by the New York State Athletic Commission. He was recently reinstated just ahead of his clash with Romero.
Haney (31-0, 1 no contest) also made weight for his catchweight bout with Jose Ramirez. Haney weighed in at 143 pounds while Ramirez tipped the scales at 143.8 pounds. The contracted weight for the fight is 144 pounds. Haney hasn't competed since suffering three knockdowns against Garcia in their meeting last year. Should Haney and Garcia both win on Friday, the expectation is that they will face off in a highly anticipated rematch later this year.
"I'm just excited to be back here in New York after such a historic event last time," Garcia said at Wednesday's news conference. "It felt so sweet, so we're going to have to do it again sooner or later, right?"
Lopez (21-1) weighed in at 139.6 pounds for his WBO junior welterweight title defense against interim titleholder Arnold Barboza Jr. (32-0), who weighed in under the 140-pound limit at 139.8 pounds. They'll kick off the festivities in the first bout of the evening.
"It's cool, man. It's perfect. I don't mind it," said Lopez, who is usually in the main event. "Look, the weather is only going to get more chillier outdoors. I'll be up first, I'm happy with it. I'll get in and out."
Friday's tripleheader will take over Times Square, where a ring is being constructed at the popular tourist attraction in New York. The event will be streamed via DAZN PPV.
While the three bouts offer plenty of intrigue, the venue -- smack in the middle of the Big Apple -- is generating its own buzz among fans and media.
"It'll be all about staying focused. The fighters have to be laser focused," Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya said Thursday while standing at the site of the fights as traffic passed by. "Don't pay attention to all the noise outside of this ring. It's going to be very difficult for every single fighter, because as you can imagine there will be people everywhere, thousands of people watching."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.