Ryan Garcia blames his missing weight by coming in 3.2 lbs over the 140-lb limit from “carrying the promotion” for his fight against the charisma-challenged WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney on Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV.
Kingry’s back muscles got jacked from carrying the entire promotional load of the fight. Haney has been practically invisible while Ryan has been doing the heavy lifting in the spotlight.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) points out that he did most of the promotion for the fight, and that got on the way of him getting down to the 140-lb weight limit during today’s weigh-in, which will cost him $1.5 million due to the $500,000 per pound bet that he made with Haney (31-0, 15 KOs).
Haney has sounded like a robotic, mumbling the same lines in every interview, and his dad has been no help, talking mostly about Tank Davis.
“[My back gained too much muscle from carrying the promo],” Ryan Garcia said on X, explaining why he missed weight.
Ryan is so right. He’s done most fo the promotion for the fight, while Haney has stood back in awe, watching the social media star do the hard work, and unable to contribute in a meaningful way.
Forget the WBC Belt, It’s a Money Pit
Despite the $1.5M purse hit Ryan is taking, he’s unconcerned and feels that getting the win is more important than the money loss or not being able to capture Haney’s WBC light welterweight title. A win catapults him to a true mega-star, where he’ll be bringing in cool cash by the truckful.
Ryan is actually better off not fighting for the WBC title because if he wins, he’d be stuck having to defend against mandatory Sandor Martin next, and that’s a fight that won’t make money.
It’s better for Ryan to be free of the WBC belt, so he can face anyone he wants if he’s victorious on Saturday night. Ryan had dodged a financial bullet by not making weight. Only the fighters can draw need a belt for a prop to validate them.
The win is more important for Ryan’s career than the belt, being saddled with the highway robbery sanctioning fees, and, even worse, being forced to defend against a no-name mandatory Sandor Martin.
That would be like a double-hit for Ryan because he would be paying a massive sanctioning fee for the WBC title and then losing money fighting Sandor in a fight that won’t bring in the dough. You can make a strong argument that tiles are only for fighters who lack a fan base, like Haney.
