Ryan Garcia Loses Millions After Missing Weight for Fight Against Devin Haney
Garcia missed the 140-pound limit by more than three pounds.
Ryan Garcia missed weight for his WBC super lightweight title fight against champion Devin Haney and it's going to cost him a lot of money. On Friday, Garcia weighed in at 143.2 pounds, well over the 140-pound limit. The two combatants quickly cut a deal to keep Saturday night's fight on, but missing weight will wind up costing Garcia millions, and a shot at the title.
Garcia will give up $600,000 of his purse to Haney and won't have to weigh in on Saturday before the fight. He is also ineligible to win the championship. If Haney loses, the belt would be vacated.
Additionally, on Thursday, Haney asked Garcia to pay him $500,000 per pound if he missed weight. Garcia agreed and the two had a handshake deal. Golden Boy Promotions confirmed Garcia will honor the deal, meaning he'll pay Haney $1.5 million.
The build to the fight has been overshadowed by Garcia's social media posts from the past few months that have repeatedly espoused conspiracy theories. Garcia (24–1, 20 KOs) and Haney (31–0, 15 KOs) are two of the sports top young stars and their styles could make for an electric bout. Instead of a build-up focused on the fight, distractions have been the order of the day. The weigh-in drama is just the latest issue to arise.
Given how badly he missed weight, there will be questions of whether or not Garcia is actually prepared the fight. It's his second bout since since getting knocked out by Gervonta Davis in a 136-pound bout last April. He dispatched Oscar Duarte with an eighth-round knockout back in December and subsequently moved up in weight to face Haney at 140 pounds.
After conquering the lightweight division and capturing the WBC, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring titles, Haney moved up to super lightweight in December and won the WBC title away from Regis Prograis. Now he'll take on Garcia in one of the most-anticipated bouts of 2024.
By missing weight for the fight, Garcia cost himself $2.1 million and made Haney a winner before a punch was even thrown.
