In a surprise to everybody, Ryan Garcia & Oscar Duarte weighed in over the 140-lb limit at their weigh-in today for an advertised catchweight for this Saturday’s main event live on DAZN.
The weights:
Ryan Garcia: 143
Oscar Duarte: 142.8
Even DAZN’s commentators weren’t aware of the Garcia-Duarte contest to be a catchweight in the welterweight division, which suggests that one of the two fighters couldn’t make weight and secretly, the limit was raised from 140 to 143.
Some believe that it was Ryan Garcia who couldn’t make the 140-lb limit and needed it raised to 140, as he’s the bigger of the two and heavier.
With Ryan’s popularity and his recent issues with his promoters, Oscar De La Hoya & Bernard Hopkins, it would make sense why they wouldn’t want to make it public that it was him who needed the weight raised.
For Golden Boy Promotions not to say which of their two fighters needed to have the weight-adjusted upward suggests that they don’t want to make them look bad and get criticized like we saw with Jermall Charlo recently when he couldn’t make weight for his fight with Jose Benavidez Jr. on November 25th.
“Obviously, there’s a catchweight here and that surprises us. None of us knew that,” said Ade Oladipo to DAZN, making it clear that they weren’t aware there would be a catchweight for Saturday’s headliner between Ryan Garcia & Oscar Duarte, which had been advertized as being contested at 140. “Who does that favor coming in a few pounds heavier?”
“I would have to say the bigger guy, Ryan Garcia. We know how big he is,” said Akin Reyes. “At 135, he was huge. At 140, he is big, but Oscar Duarte coming up in weight, still looking in shape and ripped up at 142. Maybe he’s comfortable there.”
“Why is at a catchweight? You’ve got two 135 guys coming up. Why did this fight have to be at a catchweight? Why not at 140?” said Ade.
Oscar Duarte ready for the upset
“Secretly, something might have happened in the last couple of days. Somebody didn’t make weight, whether it was Ryan or Duarte, and here we are,” said Barak Bess.
Oscar Duarte: “I feel good. This is my moment; this is my time. I’m ready for this Saturday. Come Saturday, I’m going to win. I want to fight the best fighters. He’s a great rival and one of the top fighters. I think he made a mistake in choosing me, and it’s going to be a great fight.
“The confidence comes from preparation. It’s the best preparation I’ve had in my life. It’s the best time I’ve had. I want to enjoy this moment, and I’m going to be ready. Everyone can think what they want. Everyone can have their own opinion. They’re fans, but tomorrow, everyone is going to know who Oscar Duarte is.”
Ryan Garcia: “I’m ready for this fight. A lot of preparation was put in. This is the most focused I’ve been in so long, and I’m excited to show you guys what that looks like. On Saturday night, it’s going to be a blast.
“You know what they say. ‘Faith without work is dead.’ I put in a lot of work and that’s where this faith comes from. I’m going to show you guys on Saturday night all this work I’ve put in. Everything, the work I put in, you’ll see it on Saturday night. That’s all I got to say. It’ll be seen in the ring all the work we did.
“It says something. It says someone is not ready,” said light welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr., reacting to the Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte fight being contested at a catchweight, which wasn’t advertised. “I think it would be Ryan. I don’t know. Both of these guys are coming up from 135, so you would think it would be a breeze.
“It’s my division. I’m ready, and hopefully, I’ll get the winner or anyone else,” said Barboza Jr.
Weights: In the recent weigh-in for the boxing event in Houston, there was a notable change in the catch weight for the fight between Ryan Garcia and Oscar Duarte. Originally scheduled at 140lbs, Garcia weighed in at 142.8 lbs, while Duarte came in at 143 lbs. In other matchups, Floyd Schofield weighed 135 lbs against Ricardo Lopez at 134.2 lbs. Shane Mosley Jr. recorded a weight of 159.4 lbs, facing off against Joshua Conley who weighed in at 163.6 lbs. Darius Fulghum and Pachino Hill also weighed in at 167.6 lbs and 170 lbs respectively.
