Ryan Garcia loses outlandish $500k bet one day before Devin Haney fight
Associated PressRyan Garcia bet Devin Haney he’d make weight for their WBC super lightweight championship bout on April 20. But the pre-fight weigh-ins the day before said otherwise.
Both boxing stars were mandated to weigh 140 pounds when they hit the scales. Ryan Garcia, however, came in at 143.2 pounds, which now comes with serious ramifications.
As such, the Golden Boy’s premier fighter is no longer eligible to win the WBC belt even if he defeats Devin Haney on fight night. Even worse, he now owes a significant portion of his fight purse, win-or-lose, to the current No. 1 ranked fighter in the division.
At their last press conference, Garcia bet Haney that he’d see the three required digits on the scale and, if not, he’d cough up $500,000 for every excess pound.
That math shows the California native is now in the hole for $1.5 million to Haney. Garcia will reportedly honor their handshake bet, as MMA Fighting shared on X.
Garcia, the former WBC interim lightweight title holder, has fought at catchweight in his last two fights against Oscar Duarte and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. He weighed in at the same 143 pounds against Duarte.
This instance is not Garcia’s first time losing a pre-fight bet, either.
He and Davis agreed to put up their entire fight purse for whoever lost their boxing match. However, ‘Tank’ allowed Garcia to keep his earnings after scoring a seventh-round KO.
With the stakes of Garcia vs Haney now diminished, the focus will be on how Garcia performs amid the disappointing news. A victory against a top-ranked boxer would still exponentially boost his credibility amongst fans.
