Ryan Garcia’s $1.5 Million Debacle “Not at All” Tarnishes His Win Over Devin Haney Says Oscar De La Hoya

Big win for Ryan Garcia, right? Knocked down Devin Haney, in a dominant performance! But wait, wasn’t there something about the weigh-in? Yeah, about that… Garcia came in over the limit, a whopping 3.2 pounds overweight. That kind of miss stings, but it gets worse. Remember that pre-fight bet?

The one where Garcia agreed to pay Haney a cool $500,000 per pound over? Ouch. That adds up to a hefty $1.5 million disappearing from Garcia’s pocket. So, did this costly mistake take the shine off his victory? Oscar De La Hoya, Garcia’s promoter, has some interesting thoughts on that.

De La Hoya Praises Both Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney

In a revealing segment of his interview with Fight Hub TV, the interviewer posed a direct question to Oscar De La Hoya: “Do you think that being overweight tarnishes the win a little bit?” De La Hoya’s response was unequivocal. “I don’t know, not at all,” he stated firmly. He went on to elaborate, “The casual fan, the boxing fan, they saw a great fight. They saw Ryan demolish Devin Haney.”

De La Hoya didn’t stop there; his praise for both fighters continued. “Will Devin Haney be back? Absolutely, he’ll be back; he’s a great fighter,” he acknowledged, showing respect for Haney’s resilience and skills. Yet, the spotlight remained firmly on Garcia. “I have a lot of respect for him, for his family, you know it was Ryan’s night and we should give him all the credit in the world,” De La Hoya added, emphasizing the exceptional nature of Garcia’s performance despite the pre-fight controversy.

In the same interview, he talked about the referee’s performance in the match.

Was Ryan fighting two people that night?

Oscar De La Hoya didn’t shy away from expressing his thoughts on referee Harvey Dock’s performance during the Garcia-Haney fight. “I think he had a very interesting night,” De La Hoya remarked, puzzled by one judge’s decision to score the fight a draw, calling it “mind-boggling.”

His critique of Dock was pointed: “The referee, you know he could have done a better job. He could have maybe been neutral instead of Ryan fighting two people inside that ring [on the same] night.” Despite these challenges, Ryan Garcia’s resilience shone through, knocking down Haney three times and securing a majority decision, underscoring his dominance in this long-standing rivalry.

What do you think? Did Garcia’s performance outshine the controversies, or do these issues cast a long shadow over his victory?