Past Friday sponsored another The Ring card in a continuation of their overlapping encroach onto being a promoter, but in a complete 180-degree from their last sponsored event featuring Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn, this event would prominently fail to live up to expectations. Similar to the Eubank-Benn card, this The Ring-sponsored card would feature prominent American fighters in domestic match-ups.

Headlining the May 2nd card was a “title” bout between Americans Rolando Romero and Ryan Garcia who would end up creating a discouraging historical record by throwing one of the least-thrown punches in boxing history, followed by the co-main event between Devin Haney and Jose Ramirez who would follow up closely behind Romero and Garcia with their performance. The multi-promotional event was staged at the legendary Times Square venue in New York.

Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero

With the WBA deciding to promote unified welterweight (147 lbs) champion Jaron Ennis to WBA “super” champion, the organization also decided to introduce the WBA “regular” title for the headlining bout between Ryan Garcia (24-2, 20 KO’s) and Rolando Romero (17-2, 13 KO’s).

With a “world title” on the line for this 147-pound title bout, the match was expected to be highly-entertaining but culminated in a poor showing from both fighters that further contained an upset and broke a historical record.

Despite Garcia largely considered the favorite to win following his overturned win over Devin Haney last April, it was Rolando Romero who would shake off the dust of his previous loss to Isaac Cruz to net a “world title” again.

Neither fighter thoroughly impressed but Romero nonetheless proved to be both the better and more active fighter, shockingly knocking down Garcia in the 2nd round of the fight to put himself ahead.

While Garcia managed to land the left hook several times, there was a degree of power that he appeared to lack, allowing Romero’s counterattacking style to dictate the tale of the tape. Notably, neither fighter seemed particularly willing to engage with each other from the 1st round onwards as they averaged around 20 punches per round.

Romero’s work rate and efficient boxing mostly dictated the pace as his jabs and body punches prevented Garcia from gaining any momentum. By the end of the 12 rounds, Romero was announced the deserving winner by unanimous decision (UD) through all three judges’ scores of 115-112 twice, and 118-109.

The fight further took the #3 spot for fewest-thrown punches [490] in a 12-round match according to CompuBox’s punch stats:

Rolando Romero further netted the vacant WBA “regular” title following his win over Garcia ― which again will draw some controversy given the low-scaled performance of both fighters, and the fact Romero was coming off a loss while Garcia had his last match deemed a “no contest”.

Devin Haney vs. Jose Carlos Ramirez

Also fighting at welterweight would be between American fighters Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KO’s) and Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-3, 18 KO’s) ― both fighters who had been world champions at some point during their career and had fought and lost at super lightweight (140 lbs) during their last bouts [though Haney’s loss would be deemed a no-contest following Ryan Garcia’s failed drug tests].

Haney, 26, had the obvious advantage of youth over the 32-year old Jose Ramirez as he opted for the tactic of boxing from a distance ― adopting the classic “hit and not get hit” boxing style.

However, just like the main event between Garcia and Romero, the Haney-Ramirez bout would also notably feature a lack of action not made any easier by Haney’s tendency to stay clear of Ramirez at all costs while Ramirez tremendously failed at closing up on Haney.

Ramirez’ inability to cut off the ring was as notable as Haney’s nigh-desperation to avoid any damage. Though Haney virtually won every round, the lack of activity by both fighters broke a record on the night as they combined a total of 503 thrown punches to take the 4th spot of fewest-thrown punches in a 12-round bout.

Notably, the Haney-Ramirez statistics of the power punches thrown exceeded widely exceeded that of the Garcia-Romero bout.

Haney would be announced the winner by UD following the 12 rounds, winning almost every round according to the judges’ scorecards of 119-109 twice, and 118-110.

Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr.

At 140 pounds, WBO champion Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KO’s) and challenger Arnold Barboza Jr. (32-1, 11 KO’s) ― both also from the Untied States ― faced each other in a genuine world title contest that exceeded its billing as the second-to-last bout.

The fight between the two was relatively close but it was ultimately Lopez who would clearly win the contest by virtue of efficiency and work rate, outlanding and outthrowing Barboza Jr. to take the contest by several rounds. Though competitive, Barboza failed to make the impact needed to win the match, finding himself brutally countered and pressured on many occasions as Lopez showed excellent versatility on his way to a UD win.

Unanimously, Lopez was declared the winner by decision following the culmination of the 12 rounds with scores of 116-112 twice, and 118-110.

Teofimo Lopez further retained his WBO super lightweight title as a result of his victory over WBO mandatory opponent Barboza, thereby completing his mandatory duties.