Times Square boxing event ends in a stunner as Rolando Romero beats Ryan Garcia. Haney, Lopez win

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Garcia arrived in Times Square in a Batmobile, hoping to look like a superhero in his return to boxing.

Minutes later, he was hurt and on the canvas, looking up at the billboards and bright lights on the marquees surrounding the ring after being knocked down by Rolando “Rolly” Romero’s crushing left hand in the second round.

Wham! Pow!

Romero went on to beat Garcia by unanimous decision Friday night, a surprising finish to a night of boxing like none other.

Garcia praised Romero and his power, but he was perhaps done in just as much by the event itself. Even a Batmobile is slow in Manhattan traffic, and Garcia didn't realize it would take so long to get from the hotel to the venue after he had warmed up.

Once he got there, he noticed there were so few fans with seats near the arena that there was no crowd push that the fan favorite needed.

“I wasn’t a fan of that at all. It felt like a sparring match,” Garcia said. “You could hear everybody and it just didn’t feel authentic to me, but no excuses.”

Times Square was the setting for Garcia’s first fight since he was suspended for a year after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in his victory over Devin Haney that was later overturned and ruled a no contest.

The plan was for Garcia and Haney to move on to a rematch if they both won Friday, but only Haney (32-0) held up his end of the bargain.

He beat Jose Ramirez (29-3) by unanimous decision in a matchup of former 140-pound champions, after Teofimo Lopez defended his junior welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Arnold Barboza Jr.

On a night that saw ring girls replaced by impersonators of celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Hulk Hogan and Michael Jackson, a couple people wearing Elmo costumes and a drummer playing — standard sights and sounds in Times Square on a Friday night — Romero (17-2) ended up as the star of the show.

He seemed to gain more confidence in the later rounds, letting more hard shots go as it become clear Garcia (24-2) didn’t seem capable of stopping him. He won 115-112 on two cards and the other judge scored it 118-109.

But Romero, who was knocked out by Gervonta Davis in a previous title shot in New York, didn't argue that he should now take Garcia's place against Haney.

“Man, I ain't even thinking about what’s next,” he said. “I think Devin and Ryan should get their rematch and make a big one.”

The Garcia who knocked Haney down three times was nowhere to be seen in Times Square – which will undoubtedly lead to questions about how much the drugs affected that performance last April 20.

“I just think that whole year took a lot off my body physically and mentally,” Garcia said.

Haney and Lopez looked like themselves. So much going on around them looked nothing like a normal big-fight night.

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.

Lopez, a 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 and a crowd that included fellow boxers Mike Tyson, Terence Crawford and Shakur Stevenson, and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, 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.

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, though it wasn't a large number — could pass the time between bouts reading the ticker that scrolled along the outside of ABC’s Times Square studios just above the ring.

“It wasn’t as big as I expected it to get,” Lopez said of his bout, before adding it felt bigger as the night went on.

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing

People gather in Times Square to watch a boxing match Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People gather in Times Square to watch a boxing match Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People gather in Times Square to watch a boxing match Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People gather in Times Square to watch a boxing match Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People gather in Times Square to watch a boxing match Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People gather in Times Square to watch a boxing match Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Fans watch Teofimo Lopez and Arnold Barboza Jr. fight during a super lightweight boxing match in Times Square Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Teofimo Lopez, left, fights Arnold Barboza Jr. during a super lightweight boxing match in Times Square Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

People watch as Teofimo Lopez, left, fights Arnold Barboza Jr. during a super lightweight boxing match in Times Square Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Fans watch Teofimo Lopez and Arnold Barboza Jr. fight during a super lightweight boxing match in Times Square Friday, May 2, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said.

Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure," Gisler said.

Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

Officials called the blaze an “embrasement généralisé,” a firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.

“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.

“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.

The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.

In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.

The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.

The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.

The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.

Crans-Montana is one of the top race venues on the World Cup circuit in Alpine skiing and will host the next world championships over two weeks in February 2027.

In four weeks’ time, the resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers for their last events before going to the Milan Cortina Olympics, which open Feb. 6.

Crans-Montana also is a premium venue in international golf. The Crans-sur-Sierre club stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course with stunning mountains views.

From left, Mathias Reynard, State Councillor and president of the Council of State of the Canton of Valais, Stephane Ganzer, State Councillor and head of the Department of Security, Institutions and Sport of the Canton of Valais, Frederic Gisler, Commander of the Valais Cantonal Police, Beatrice Pilloud, Attorney General of the Canton of Valais and Nicole Bonvin-Clivaz, Vice-President of the Municipal Council of Crans-Montana during a press conference in Lens, following a fire that broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

A skier walks in the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

A banner stating that fireworks are prohibited due to the risk of fire is pictured near the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)