Fatal Fury Press Conference at The Mayan in Los Angeles

The Mayan Theatre in downtown Los Angeles served as an appropriate setting for three Mexican-American fighters from California on their second leg of a coast to coast press conference in promotion of the three-fight special attraction event which takes place at Times Square in New York on Cinco De Mayo weekend. 

Victorville’s Ryan Garcia, La Puente’s Arnold Barboza Jr. and Northern California native Jose Ramirez were seated on the stage alongside Oscar De La Hoya of East Los Angeles just miles away from De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions office on Wilshire Boulevard. 

Garcia is familiar with the Los Angeles area, last year having rode a white horse on the streets of Los Angeles in promotion of his fight against Devin Haney.  Haney was seated on the other side of the stage with Teofimo Lopez and Rolando Romero; Haney faces Ramirez and Romero gloves up against Garcia in what will be an interesting round robin for years to come.  

Garcia dropped Haney multiple times in their bout last year en route to a decision win which was reversed following a positive test of Garcia for a performance enhancing drug. 

One year to present and their pair will face off against different opponents in the hopes of a rematch to be set later this year.  In Romero, Garcia will face a rival that correctly predicted several years ago that the pair who once sparred would not only meet later in their careers, ‘Rolly’ also called the correct weight of 147 for their welterweight showdown. The two will fight for the WBA welterweight title in the Big Apple main event titled ‘Fatal Fury’.    

Haney was soundly booed by the Los Angeles crowd, yet he took it in stride and even sparred verbally with Garcia about the PED situation.  All the while Haney’s opponent Ramirez spoke least of the fighters, keeping his comments short and his goal focused on upsetting Garcia-Haney II from occurring.  

The real fireworks came when Teofimo Lopez hit the stage.  Dressed in a self-proclaimed ‘Bret Michaels’ attire, Lopez went at everyone on the stage, including Garcia’s opponent.  “What Haney?,” said Lopez to the Las Vegas native who was seated right next to him. “Don’t talk to me, you have makeup on,” retorted Haney to a multitude of laughs.  

Lopez engaged in words with Garcia, who stated earlier in the day to Ring Magazine that he initially wanted to face Issac Cruz, followed by a showdown with Lopez, and that a rematch with Haney is not even warranted due to the domination in their first fight. 

The faceoff between Gomez and Barboza became physical as Barboza knocked off Lopez’s Bret Michaels hat, pushed Lopez, and Lopez responded with an audible left hand slap to the face of Barboza. 

Fight night in New York could not come soon enough.

The post Fatal Fury Press Conference at The Mayan in Los Angeles appeared first on 3 More Rounds.