RYAN GARCIA appeared to suggest he missed weight on PURPOSE for his fight against Devin Haney.
Garcia was due to challenge for the 140lb WBC belt on Saturday night in New York.
But at the behind-closed-doors weigh in a day beforehand, the controversial American MISSED the championship weight.
He hit the scales at 143.2lb and was denied the chance to cut the extra 3.2lb meaning he could no longer contest for the strap.
Haney, the undefeated two-division champ, successfully made the weight but the bout remained in doubt.
But the grudge bout was salvaged after the two camps agreed a financial compensation for Haney.
Garcia spoke out online following his missed weight debacle to hint it was all part of a masterplan.
He posted on X: “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.”
Garcia added separately: “Why would I force my self to make weight so I can be weak. Nah I’m here to win That’s it.”
The 24-1 boxer looked to rub salt in the wounds later at the public weigh in as he walked on stage with a bottle in hand and chucked from it.
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When asked what he was drinking, he told DAZN: “I was drinking a nice ass beer. That s*** was fire.”
Only 24 hours earlier at the press conference, the two shook on a $500,000 wager that Garcia would not hit the 140lb limit.
He even agreed to $500,000 per lb – meaning he would have owed Haney a whopping $1.5MILLION for his weigh-in disaster.
But according to Dan Rafael, the two sides reached a financial compensation to allow the fight to go ahead.
Garcia will pay a penalty – believed to be much lower than the deal they brazenly agreed on stage which was not contractually binding.
But he then claimed on stage: “I had to give him $1.5million but that’s light work for me. Come on now.”
Probed on why he missed weight, Garcia said: “I did my best to make this weight. I put myself through hell.”
Garcia, 25, and Haney, also 25, stared down for the final time on stage, which was described by a commentator as the “most intense face-off ever”.
