With one month to go before the one-of-a-kind May 2 Times Square boxing event, promoter Oscar De La Hoya has three fighters entered, with the chance to sweep the tripleheader.

“That’s the hope … of course, it’s very possible it could go the other way around, too, because those are all quality fights,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene on Wednesday.

De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions has the most riding on America’s most popular fighter, Ryan Garcia, who will return from a one-year suspension to meet former WBA 140lbs titleholder Rolando “Rolly” Romero in the May 2 main event in New York, a card that will be streamed by DAZN.

Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), recently announced he has reunited with trainer Derrick James, who helped direct him to the April 20, 2024, three-knockdown majority decision victory over Devin Haney.

That outcome was later converted to a no-contest by the New York State Athletic Commission when Garcia submitted three positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing substance ostarine.

Comfortably favored at -900 according to DraftKings, Garcia, 26, has emerged from a turbulent 2024 that included a vandalism arrest in Beverly Hills, California, and his admitted alcohol abuse to become focused on this bout against a longtime rival and an ensuing October rematch against Haney in Saudi Arabia.

Still, it’s a promoter’s prerogative to fret, and after WBA lightweight belt holder Gervonta “Tank” Davis recently classified Romero as the hardest puncher he has ever faced – and Davis defeated Garcia in 2023 – De La Hoya is respectful of the matchup.

“Rolly can punch like a mule, and Ryan has been off for a year,” De La Hoya said.

Tied to a substantial +700 underdog in former unified 140lbs champion Jose Ramirez, 29-2 (18 KOs), against Haney, 31-0 (15 KOs), De La Hoya is more bold in touting his guy’s chances at posting an upset.

“Ramirez is coming in guns blazing,” De La Hoya said of the 32-year-old feeling the desperation of a November loss to Arnold Barboza Jnr by a narrow unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia. “He senses the opportunity.”

De La Hoya, who watched Garcia drop and repeatedly batter Haney with left hooks in their Brooklyn fight last year, has a powerful theory to test in one month.

“I feel Devin Haney is a shot fighter after what Ryan Garcia did to him,” De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya was then asked: Can a fighter crumble from two-division world champion to “shot” that quickly?

“It happens that quick, yes,” De La Hoya answered. “I’ve seen [Haney’s] demeanor … he looks lost. Look, Ramirez still has his power, his legs and a left hook.”

Southern California’s Barboza, 32-0 (11 KOs), is a mere +180 underdog to WBO 140lbs and two-division champion Teofimo Lopez Jnr, 21-1 (13 KOs), in their Times Square opening bout.

Lopez, 27, is coming off two lackluster showings, against Steve Claggett and Jamaine Ortiz, and one fight before that, he nearly lost to recent title challenger Sandor Martin.

“It depends where Teo is in his head,” De La Hoya said after watching Lopez slap Barboza last month at a Los Angeles news conference promoting the bout, an act Barboza said he interpreted as an indication that Lopez is troubled by the matchup.

Barboza has clawed his way to the title fight impressively, defeating Ramirez and then following that by traveling to England to defeat then-No. 1-ranked contender Jack Catterall on February 15.

“Barboza is out to steal the show. He’s on a mission,” De La Hoya said. “He’s taken his skills a notch up and has become a different person and better fighter.”

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.