Ryan Garcia Misses Weight for Devin Haney Fight; Sides Reportedly Re-Doing Contract
Mike Chiari@@mikechiari
Featured Columnist IVApril 19, 2024
Ryan Garcia failed to make weight Friday for what was supposed to be a 140-pound super lightweight title fight against Devin Haney on Saturday.
Haney tweeted that Garcia weighed in three pounds over the weight limit, and veteran boxing reporter Dan Rafael later confirmed it, noting that Garcia weighed in at 143.2 pounds:
Dan Rafael @DanRafael1Ryan Garcia is indeed waaaay overweight for the fight. He scales 143.2 pounds, per source in the room. He will not be eligible to win the WBC 140 title. Sides negotiating how to move forward. Absolute disaster and absolutely expected. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/boxing?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#boxing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HaneyGarcia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HaneyGarcia</a>
Rafael added that failing to make weight means Garcia will not be eligible to compete for the title on Saturday, and noted that the two sides were "negotiating how to move forward."
In a subsequent post on X, Rafael wrote that Garcia and Haney "made a financial deal to go forward."
Haney posted that Garcia honored their informal agreement to pay him $500,000 for each pound he was over the limit:
Per Jamie Gordon of the U.S. Sun, Garcia and Haney made a handshake deal at the press conference that if one of them came in overweight, they would have to pay the other boxer $500,000 per pound.
Haney called Garcia "fat boy," which prompted Garcia to show off his abs and agree to the terms laid out by Haney.
Although the agreement was not legally binding, Haney said Friday that Garcia agreed to honor it and will pay him $1.5 million, according to Michael Benson of TalkSport.com.
Garcia, 25, has enjoyed the bulk of his success as a lightweight at 135 pounds, but he moved up in weight class in more recent fights.
His knockout win over Oscar Duarte in December was contested at 143 pounds, and Garcia was apparently unable to adjust and get back down to 140 for the clash with Haney.
Although Garcia vs. Haney will no longer be for a title, it is still a significant fight between two of the best, young boxers in the world.
Garcia is a former lightweight champion with a career record of 24-1, including 20 victories by way of knockout.
His only loss came against undefeated Gervonta Davis, who beat him by seventh-round knockout in a bout at a catchweight of 136 pounds in April 2023.
Haney, who is also 25, is a perfect 31-0 with 15 of his wins coming via knockout, and he is the reigning WBC super lightweight champion.
He previously dominated the lightweight division, beating George Kambosos Jr. in 2022 to unify the WBC lightweight title with the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF and The Ring lightweight championships.
Haney successfully defended the titles against Kambosos in a rematch and also beat Vasiliy Lomachenko last year. More recently, Haney beat Regis Prograis in December to win his first super lightweight title.
Even without the title on the line, Saturday's bout is perhaps the biggest fight of Garcia's career, as an upset win over Haney would set him up for several more huge fights in the future.