Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia agreed to a “bet” of $500,000 ahead of Friday’s weigh-in for their WBC junior middleweight title fight.
They are scheduled to make 140 pounds on Friday morning, ahead of a ceremonial weigh-in on Friday afternoon, and finally to fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday evening.
While Haney, 25, has looked as he typically has mid-fight week – his struggles to make 135 pounds before he moved to junior welterweight for his victory in 2023 over Regis Prograis were little secret – Garcia, 25, has the appearance of a fighter ready to fight at 147 pounds.
At Thursday’s final press conference, perhaps as a consequence of the speculation surrounding his condition, Garcia wore a weighted vest. As he exchanged insults with Devin, his long-term rival, and Bill Haney – Devin’s father, trainer and manager – a bet was also supposedly brokered from the top table. (It is worth recognizing that few of these are ever spoken about after the event.)
“[Let’s bet] $500,000,” Garcia said, “$500,000.”
“Okay, that’s a bet,” replied Bill Haney. “If you don’t make weight, it’s $500,000.”
“It’s a bet,” Garcia responded. “It’s a bet. It’s a bet. It’s a bet. It’s a bet.”
Devin Haney then insisted, “$500,000 per pound [over weight]. Hey, Ryan. Let’s do $500,000 per pound. You wanna shake on it?”
Haney will be making the first defense of the title he won from Prograis in December, in perhaps the best performance of his career so far. He and Garcia fought six times as amateurs, each winning three fights.
“This has been a long time coming,” Devin said. “The talking’s almost done, and the antics is almost done. This is not an easy fight, but this is a fight that I will make look easy.
“All the antics – everything – I’ve kept my blinders on and stayed focused. I have my tunnel vision, and on Saturday it will show. All the antics – all the stuff he’s been doing – will betray him and it will show. Inshallah.”
“I don’t think you will go in the middle of the ring,” Garcia said. “That would be stupid.
“Come to the center. We’ll go the center of the ring, see what you do.
“Nobody’s worried about that. Go run. Come to the center, do whatever the f**k you want. I’m gonna hunt you down and f**king knock you out.”
