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Ryan Garcia Says He Made $10M Betting On Himself to Beat Devin Haney in Boxing Fight

Joseph Zucker

Ryan Garcia appeared to confirm he cashed out a sizable bet on himself to beat Devin Haney.

In an Instagram post Monday, Garcia shared multiple screenshots referencing a $2 million wager he placed on the fight, which paid out $12 million.

"If you bet, BET ON YOURSELF," he wrote in the caption. "On top of what we made. EATING GOOD."

Garcia was the clear underdog entering the fight, a status he earned in no small part thanks to his struggles on social media and in public leading up to the event. He was 3.2 pounds over the 140-pound limit at the weigh-in and drank from a beer bottle on the stage.

Failing to make weight cost Garcia $1.5 million because he had told Haney he would pay $500,000 for every pound he was over.

In an interview with ESPN's Mike Coppinger, Haney called Garcia a "f--king clown" and sounded exasperated with how things were unfolding.

"We're here now. That's all that matters," he said. "The stuff he's doing is not normal. It's obvious that something is wrong with him. But what he does outside the ring does not matter. It won't change what I'm going to do to him inside the ring."

Now, given the betting, it's worth wondering how much of Garcia's behavior was intended to make people view him as an even bigger long shot. The general lack of focus he had shown in recent weeks was nowhere to be seen once he stepped into the ring.

He overwhelmed the previously unbeaten Haney and knocked down the lightweight champion three times. CompuBox had him landing more than twice as many power punches (95) as Haney (45).

Garcia scored the biggest victory of his career Saturday in Brooklyn, New York. Upsetting Haney figures yield major dividends in more ways than one; a $10 million profit from a $2 million bet is just the start.

   

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