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Ignoring Mother’s Warning After $50 Million Payout Could Cost Ryan Garcia Big Time

Published 04/23/2024, 11:42 AM EDT

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Ryan Garcia might have won big against Devin Haney, but his mother, Lisa Garcia, has a pertinent worry regarding everything he’s earned from the fight. As he began boasting about the millions he made over this weekend, she took it upon herself to remind the 25-year-old about a very important task he needed to undertake, which could otherwise lead him into some serious trouble.

Taxes! On social media, his mother asked ‘KingRy’ to pay the taxes out of the massive sum he earned for his fight against Haney. She was replying to a post in which the California native was addressing reports of him making $10 million on the $2 million he bet on himself for the Brooklyn fight. In the captions, Ryan Garcia revealed that he had made more than $50 million that night. He wrote, “If you bet, BET ON YOURSELF… on top of what we made. EATING GOOD … About 50 million ( probably more )in one night not too shabby. I will let God guide me on how to use this money”

 

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A post shared by Ryan Garcia (@kingryan)

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Through her account ‘Kingry_ma’, Garcia’s mother wrote in the comments section, “Have them take your taxes out immediately.” Especially considering the spending spree that he’s currently on after the win, she further warned him, stating, “Talk to your CPA cuz taxes are no joke.” As per reports, and what his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, had to say, the fighter would earn a minimum of $30 million just from the purse splits, and double that if he won the fight. Now, that he’s won the matchup and the bet, it remains to be seen how much he earns in total. Therefore, if his payout is as sizable as he claims, the IRS will need their checks pretty soon.

It was a pretty successful fight night considering the bank he’s made. However, before the fight, it seemed highly unlikely that KingRy would clinch the victory against his undefeated opponent. Almost everyone had counted out Ryan Garcia in the days leading up to the fight, with many even calling him “crazy” for his social media antics. Former boxers like Timothy Bradley Jr. and Paulie Malignaggi had criticized Garcia for even considering a match-up against Devin Haney.

Jeff Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather‘s uncle, while talking about the fight, admitted, “I lean slightly toward Devin.” In his podcast, even Jake Paul famously made his prediction, stating, “Devin. He’s gonna smoke him. I obviously like Ryan, but like there’s one person who’s been in the gym, taking the sport seriously and then never partying once, and fighting the most elite competition. Ryan isn’t taking it seriously.” Even a former sparring partner of Devin Haney, Kenneth Sims Jr., had claimed that “Devin should pull it out… I think he’s more technical. He’s smarter in the ring when it comes to making decisions.”

It certainly looks like he managed to fool most of the boxing world. And the effort he put into making it look that way was no joke either. This begs the question: Was it all a charade? And how did the evil genius even manage to fool an entire system?

Uncovering the Charade

Garcia was assumed to be the underdog by most in their early-fight predictions. To a great extent, these predictions also made sense. His erratic behavior on social media in the days leading up to fight night and the fact that he missed weight by 3.2 pounds made many wonder if he was even serious about the fight. Not only that, Garcia even famously brought a bottle of beer which he downed while standing on the scales for the official weigh-ins. He even had to pay off a $1.5 million bet to Devin Haney personally for not making the weight which helped the fight get underway and on new terms. However, once the fight was underway, the deception started to become evident.

Garcia himself revealed on X that the supposed beer that he drank on stage was nothing but sparkling water and apple juice. Not only that, he revealed that he had purposefully missed weight in an effort to gain an edge over his opponent. On X, he wrote, “Why would I force myself to make weight so I can be weak. Nah I’m here to win. That’s it.” All of this gave him a strategic advantage while also making people question his seriousness about the fight. This is the reason why the odds were so heavily tilted in Devin Haney’s favor before the fight.

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As the fight night arrived, he was prepared and visibly stronger and bigger than his opponent. Once the opening bell of the fight chimed in, Garcia quickly took control. After dropping, ‘The Dream’, multiple times during the fight, he was declared the winner by majority decision. As a result, the unlikely bets paid off so well and Garcia took home the massive bucks.

After the fight, Garcia seemingly hinted at having fooled everyone. Post-fight, while addressing the cheering crowd, he said, “Come on guys, you really thought I was crazy? You guys lost your own mind.” Later in the night, he posted several clips of him smoking weed and dancing on a private jet while on his way to Miami to celebrate his win. In one of the posts, he managed to rub the noses of his many detractors. “I know people are very angry. Imagine just imagine a guy that trolled non stop. Beats a p4p fighter and then is just chilling bruh that’s hilarious,” he wrote mockingly on X.

After all the pre-fight drama, Ryan Garcia addressed the long, drawn-out charade in his latest post. He shared a fan reaction from a post that speculated he might have staged the entire thing to make people believe he wasn’t ready for the fight. This theory gained traction when it was revealed that Garcia had bet on himself as an underdog and won a significant payout. At the end of it all, Garcia went home approximately $50 million richer.

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Sadly for Ryan Garcia, there is still the US government that he wouldn’t want to trick. Thus heeding his mother’s advice and paying taxes on his winnings should be the way to go if he wants to keep the money he’s fought hard to get.

Do you think it was all a charade after all? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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Written by:

Mohammed Shafiulla

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Mohammed Shafiulla is a Boxing writer at EssentiallySports. With a Master’s degree in Journalism from a reputed institute, Shafi has cemented his position as one of the astute observers of boxing at ES. One of the early supporters of Naoya Inoue, Shafi has covered his transition from a Japanese boxer with a niche fan following to a power-punching global boxing star.
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Edited by:

Gokul Pillai