Ryan Garcia wore his $1 million silver crown as he walked out to face Devin Haney and scoring a majority decision at Barclays Center.
Before the fight on April 20, a video of Garcia seeing and trying the crown on for the first time gained traction on social media.
The crown from Texas-based jeweler, The Ice Champ, is made of one kilo of gold and over 400 carats of diamonds and gemstones. The Ice Champ also stated that the piece took ten days to create.
During the buildup, fans have worried about Garcia’s well-being as his social media activity continuously becomes concerning. Garcia previously made a cryptic post claiming he had been murdered and claimed he was tied up by ‘the elites’ at Bohemian Grove.
Garcia’s bizarre rants continued when he claimed an earthquake would ‘destroy’ Hollywood and Las Vegas. He also labeled Elon Musk as the Antichrist.
Fight week was nowhere far from uneventful as Haney shoved Garcia during a faceoff on top of the Empire State Building. After the altercation, Garcia said that he ‘identifies as a woman’ therefore making Haney’s act a hate crime.
Later that day, Garcia went on a rant about ‘exposing’ the New York Mets after he got kicked out of Citi Field, where he was supposed to throw the ceremonial first pitch.
Going into Saturday, Garcia held a 24-1 record, including 20 knockouts. After suffering his only loss to Gervonta Davis in April 2023, King Ryan bounced back with a knockout win over Oscar Duarte in December.
On the other hand, Haney came in undefeated at 31-0 with 15 finishes. Haney comes off four consecutive big wins – two against George Kambosos Jr. in 2022 and wins over Visiliy Lomachnko and Regis Prograis in 2023.
Haney and Garcia fought six times in the amateurs and were 3-3 before finally facing off in the professional ranks. Come fight night, Garcia landed 106 of 285 punches and scored three knockdowns to give Haney the first blemish in his record.
With many questioning his preparation and focus due to his antics, Garcia upped the temperature on his already hot seat when he missed weight by three pounds. His weight miss means Garcia is ineligible for the title if he wins the fight.
Additionally, Garcia paid Haney $1.5 million after agreeing to pay $500,000 for every pound he goes over the limit. Haney and Garcia shook on the deal during Thursday’s press conference.
