The 2025 Cinco de Mayo weekend boxing schedule is packed with interesting fights. There are big cards taking place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We look at the schedule for an action-packed weekend of boxing.
Friday, May 2: Garcia Vs. Romero Fight Card
Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero – Welterweight
Devin Haney vs. Jose Ramirez – Welterweight
Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr. – For Lopez’s WBO super lightweight title
Saturday, May 3: Alvarez Vs. Scull Fight Card
Canelo Alvarez vs William Scull: Super middleweight, for the undisputed title
Bruno Surace vs Jaime Munguia: Super middleweight
Martin Bakole vs Efe Ajagba: Heavyweight
Badou Jack vs Ryan Rozicki: Cruiserweight, for the WBC title
Marco Verde vs Michel Polina: Middleweight
Brayan Leon vs Aaron Guerrero: Middleweight
Sunday, May 4: Inoue Vs. Cardenas Fight Card
Naoya Inoue Vs. Ramon Cardenas for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight championship
Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for Espinoza’s WBO featherweight title
Rohan Polanco vs. Fabian Maidana at welterweight
Emiliano Vargas vs. TBA at junior welterweight
Mikito Nakano vs. Pedro Marquez at featherweight
Art Barrera Jr. vs. Juan Carlos Guerra Jr. at junior middleweight
Raeese Aleem vs. TBA at featherweight
Ryan Garcia Vs. Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero
The May 2 event marks the first time Ryan Garcia (24-1-0-1 with 20 knockouts) will compete since he defeated Haney via majority decision in April 2024. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) later ruled the fight a no contest after Garcia failed a drug test related to the bout. Garcia tested positive for ostarine and received a one-year suspension for the failed drug test. The NYSAC also ruled that Garcia’s $1.1 million purse had to be returned to the promoter. The commission fined Garcia $10,000. The matchup was initially for Haney’s WBC super lightweight title, but Garcia was not eligible to win the belt because he came in 3.2 pounds over the championship limit of 140 pounds. Haney had been 31-0 entering the Garcia scrap.
Rolando Romero (16-2 with 13 knockouts) has alternated wins and losses over his past five outings. He carried a 14-0 record into his May 2022 matchup against WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, but lost that contest via sixth-round TKO. Romero bounced back with a May 2023 TKO win over Ismael Barroso, winning the vacant WBA super lightweight belt in the process. He followed that victory with another TKO loss, this time losing in the eighth round to Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, and giving up his belt. In his most recent outing, Romero defeated Manuel Jaimes by unanimous decision in September 2024.
Canelo Alvarez Vs. William Scull
The rumor mill was working overtime last week when it came to Alvarez. Initial reports from The Ring (since deleted) said an “agreement is in place” for Alvarez to put his super middleweight title on the line against Terence Crawford. Not long after that, ESPN reported that Alvarez was “in the process of finalizing a deal” to face Jake Paul on May 3, and that, “Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, is suspending efforts to finalize contracts for an Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford…”
It didn’t take long for talk of the Paul fight to fall by the wayside as The Ring reported that Alvarez had inked a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season. The final piece of Alvarez news came down on February 8 when Alalshikh announced WBO, WBA, and WBC super middleweight champion Alvarez would face undefeated IBF champion Scull in May for the undisputed super middleweight title.
Alvarez had held the undisputed super middleweight crown, but the IBF stripped Alvarez of its belt in July 2024 after Alvarez failed to make a mandatory title defense against Scull. Scull (23-0 with nine knockouts) won the vacant title in October with a decision win over Vladimir Shishkin.
Alvarez (62-2-2 with 39 knockouts) is coming off a September decision win over Edgar Berlanga in defense of his WBA, WBC, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight titles.
Naoya Inoue Vs. Ramon Cardenas
Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) won his first major title in April 2014 when he knocked out Adrián Hernández to claim the WBC light flyweight title. Since then, the 32-year-old has only stepped into the boxing ring when a title is on the line. He is unbeaten in those title fights, racking up a 24-0 record with 22 knockouts in those title fights.
Over his career, Inoue won and defended the WBO junior bantamweight title seven times before moving to bantamweight for nine bouts. During that run from May 2018 to December 2022, Inoue won the WBA, IBF, and WBC titles. In his final fight at bantamweight, Inoue knocked out Paul Butler to win the WBO bantamweight crown and earn undisputed champion status in the 118-pound division.
In July 2023, Inoue moved up to junior featherweight, claiming the WBC and WBO belts in his first fight in his new weight division. He accomplished that feat by earning an eighth-round TKO over Stephen Fulton. Then, in December 2023, he became the undisputed 122-pound champion with a 10th-round knockout win over Marlon Tapales.
Since his win over Tapales, Inoue has defended his title three more times, defeating Luis Nery, TJ Doheny, and most recently, Kim Ye-joon by knockout.
The man known as “The Monster” is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the ESPN boxing rankings.
Ramon Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) has his work cut out for him on May 3. The 29-year-old steps into the spotlight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas having never competed for a world title.
Cardenas is the No. 9 ranked junior featherweight, according to ESPN. He is riding a 14-fight winning streak heading into the upcoming fight card, with seven of those wins coming by knockout.
In his most recent trip to the ring, Cardenas defeated Bryan Acosta by unanimous decision. The loss was the first of Acosta’s professional career.
Ryan Garcia Vs. Rolando “Rolly” Romero Fight Card:
Date: Friday, May 2, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Location: Times Square in New York City
How To Watch: DAZN PPV
Canelo Alvarez Vs. William Scull Fight Card:
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
How To Watch: DAZN PPV
Naoya Inoue Vs. Ramon Cardenas Fight Card:
Date: Sunday, May 4, 2025
Time: 6:15 p.m. ET
Location: ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
How To Watch: ESPN+
We will have more on the 2025 Cinco de Mayo boxing schedule as the the weekend nears.
