The past few weeks have brought no shortage of physical and verbal confrontations. Monday was no different. Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney and Arnold Barboza Jr. produced headlines for their roles in the press conference for their event at Times Square.
Two weeks removed from Chris Eubank Jr. slapping Conor Benn with an egg, Lopez and Barboza Jr. got their hands dirty. The boxers traded barbs before their May 2 fight in New York City. Things escalated during their subsequent face off.
Barboza Jr. was the first to get physical, somewhat gently nudging Lopez’s cowboy hat off his head. They exchanged escalatingly intense shoves. Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya attempted to intervene but security sprang to action after Lopez slapped Barboza Jr.
Though Garcia and Haney fight different opponents on May 2, simmering tensions between them boiled over on Monday. Garcia and Haney fought last April. Garcia won a decision after knocking down his rival multiple times, but the fight was overturned to a no-contest after Garcia tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine.
“I’m really focused on just whooping Devin Haney’s ass again,” Garcia said ahead of his fight with Rolando “Rolly” Romero. “That’s all I’m really worried about. Not even to redeem myself, just to cement that bullshit f—ing Ostarine bullshit, which you probably did set up.”
“You know what happened,” Haney, who fights Jose Ramirez, replied. “How did you test positive? You took your punishment because you knew you were guilty. Do not do drugs, kids.”
Garcia barked back, arguing that Ostarine did not contribute to his superior boxing performance.
“That Ostarine don’t help you block a left hook, bro,” Garcia said. “You got hit like a thousand times. You got dribbled off the canvas. You know nothing was taken. You know damn well. Do not do drugs? He had that in his back pocket the whole time.”