Ryan Garcia has missed weight ahead of his huge showdown with Devin Haney in New York on Saturday night.
Garcia stepped on the scales at Friday’s initial behind-closed-doors weigh-in at 143.2 pounds, 3.2 pounds over the light-welterweight limit of 140.
The fight has been confirmed as still going ahead as planned as the blockbuster main event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, though crucially the challenger will no longer be eligible to win Haney’s WBC world title on the night. That means a win for Garcia would see the belt become vacant instead.
A day earlier, Garcia and Haney had agreed to a bet that would see one fighter pay the other $500,000 per pound if they missed weight.
Haney, who had already revealed on social media that Garcia was three pounds over the limit, returned to X to confirm that his long-time rival had stuck to his word and paid up.
“Ryan honored the 500k per pound,” he posted.
Responding to missing weight, Garcia said in a series of messages: “I feel great despite how I look.
“Actually 1.5M. I don’t know. 3 pounds is nothing stop crying.
“I feel great and I got a 3 pound advantage. Let’s gooo hahahahaa. Winners do what they have to do I’m still sharp.
“Belts don’t feed your family. F**k all that, Viva Mexico, we’re leaving with his head. Belts will always be there.
“Why would I force myself to make weight so I can be weak. Nah I’m here to win. That’s it.
“My balls got to heavy. And back gained to much muscle from carrying the promo. And my fingers got stronger from all the tweets damn.”
Garcia later posted a picture of himself along with the caption: “Ahh fully hydrated ready to murk.”
Garcia’s erratic behaviour in the build-up to his bout against Haney has caused concern, with the 25-year-old having launched into a number of bizarre tirades on X and also produced a foul-mouth rant at Thursday’s final pre-fight press conference after being heckled by a member of the audience.
Haney shoved Garcia as the two men clashed atop of the Empire State Building earlier in the week, with such fireworks leading to the cancellation of plans for the fighters to throw out the first pitch during the New York Mets’ Major League Baseball (MLB) meeting with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Former undisputed lightweight king Haney, undefeated as a professional at 31-0, is the favourite to provide a successful first defence of his WBC world title on Saturday night, having stepped up to light-welterweight and comfortably outpointed Regis Prograis in San Francisco in December.
Garcia, meanwhile, is on the comeback trail after a first pro defeat in his last ‘super fight’ against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, in which he was knocked out in the seventh round in Las Vegas 12 months ago.
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The former WBC interim lightweight champion is now 24-1, having bounced back initially with an eighth-round stoppage of Mexico’s Oscar Duarte in Houston in December.