Friday, April 19th
BoxingScene was interviewing Matchroom's exciting new signing Jaron 'Boots' Ennis when the completely surprising news broke that Ryan Garcia was overweight.
The “weigh-in” Friday afternoon at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where Garcia will face Devin Haney on Saturday, was also “ceremonial.” Both athletes weighed in behind closed doors earlier in the day.
At Thursday's final press conference, it seemed inevitable that Garcia would not weigh in, so the boxing scene asked for permission to attend a closed weigh-in for the first time. Unsurprisingly, representatives from Golden Boy Promotions, the promoter of Garcia and Saturday's fight, said no, saying that making weight is unlikely because Garcia actually lost the title to the WBC super lightweight champion. He began to suggest that it was Haney. win.
Garcia showed up to compete at welterweight on Tuesday and Wednesday, consistently topless and appearing to have made little to no effort to add 140 pounds. It was in stark contrast to his match with Gervonta “Tank” Davis in April 2023. Twenty-four hours before weighing in at a 136-pound catchweight, his cheeks were sunken, he walked slowly, and he licked his lips, suggesting he was actively trying to make weight.
BoxingScene reported Friday morning that Garcia lost 11 pounds Thursday night. But that was just hours after he agreed to a bet with Haney that would pay him $500,000 for every pound he was overweight. Both fighters claim the $1.5 million bet was honored, but Garcia, who weighs 143.2 pounds, is understood to have paid $600,000.
All of this provided the latest uncomfortable insights into Garcia's psyche. His irrational, competitive spirit, and no doubt his pride, contributed to him agreeing to bets he knew would cost a lot of money. He apparently hadn't made any effort to gain 140 pounds and decided to cut his weight down to just over 143 pounds the night before the weigh-in. At Friday's weigh-in, he was more frantic than the hyperactive state he had been in all week. If he had been closer to a state of health, there is no doubt that the nervous energy he was burning up would have exhausted him before then. He also gets in the ring.
Derrick James, Garcia's respected trainer, declined individual interview requests from BoxingScene. Oscar De La Hoya, the figurehead of Golden Boy Promotions, continues to highlight his Hollywood smile — not dissimilar to Garcia's when healthy — and insists there's nothing to see. continuing. Officials from the New York State Athletic Commission have also been unable to be contacted.
Like the 25-year-old Garcia, Haney seems to have struggled to make it to 140 pounds, but when you compare him to his longtime rival and opponent, you see an almost completely unfazed picture. James had weeks to intervene, but for reasons only known to him he didn't. But Golden Boy-Garcia is not only the promoter's highest-profile and most marketable fighter, but he has also had a long-standing conflict with the promoter and is almost certain to leave as soon as his promoter contract allows. The background of being an athlete who seems to be guilty of sacrificing his health for financial gain is relevant.
