Ryan Garcia has agreed to pay WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney a cool $500K per pound if he’s over the 140-lb limit at Friday’s weigh-in for their fight on Saturday night. Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) shook hands with Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) on the bet. What is Ryan thinking?
This seems like a silly one-sided bet, where only Haney stands to gain money, not Ryan. It’s a weasel move, and Ryan is crazy to bet on this. Haney gets richer if he wins the belt, while Ryan gets nothing. This is a charity bet.
The only way this bet would make sense is if Ryan were to get some money for making weight. Otherwise, what’s the point? This is a fool’s bet.
Haney’s the One Packing on the Pounds
Haney is the one who has issues with weight, with him rehydrating to 165 lbs. The bet should have been for Ryan to insist on Haney not going over 155 when he rehydrates, which is still a heck of a lot of weight, shooting up 15 lbs from 140, but not nearly as insane as going up 25 lbs to 165.
Ryan should be capping Haney’s rehydration weight to 155 lbs. It would still be a weight advantage for Haney, but not as obscene as going up to 165 and walking into the ring as a glorified super middleweight on the night.
Deja Vu: The Gervonta Davis Debacle
It just seems like Ryan is played again, just like he did when he agreed to the weight stipulations for his fight against Gervonta Davis last year. Ryan would have still gotten that fight with Tank, even if he’d said no, but he agreed anyway and ended up drained and stopped.
Ryan seems so gullible. His best with Haney makes no sense at all unless there’s something for him to gain in taking it. If Ryan loses $500,000 because of his poor business decisions, it would be a shame.
