Anytime a fighter steps into the ring in combat sports, they are betting on themselves in the most literal sense of the word, but Garcia doubled down on that notion in his boxing match opposite Devin Haney.
He claims to have wagered $2 million of his own money on himself as a massive underdog against Haney at +500 odds. The alleged bet won $10 million when he defeated Haney by unanimous decision Saturday.
“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,” Garcia posted on his Instagram with a report that he wagered $2 million on himself. “I will let God guide me on how to use this money. Amen.”
There are questions surrounding the alleged bet as Garcia likely would’ve had to place it on the illegal bookmaking landscape.
There was no receipt of the bet shared, and betting on yourself in combat sports is highly controversial.
Floyd Mayweather attempted to bet on himself to beat Conor McGregor by TKO and wanted to bet on under 9.5 rounds but was rebuffed by casinos in Las Vegas.
Such a bet would have likely had to been placed through an illegal gambling operation similar to the one that took Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter’s action.
That illegal bookmaker took roughly $325 million in bets from Ippei Mizuhara, showing just how deep the gambling underworld runs.
There’s no real way to confirm whether Garcia’s bet was actually placed or not and he probably won’t be giving any more details for tax purposes.
But we do know that Garcia is a betting man at his core.
He wagered with Haney that he would make weight for the fight, and if he were off the weight he would give Haney $500,000 for every pound he was off.
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Garcia weighed in three pounds overweight and Haney confirmed that Garcia made good on his lost bet in the lead up to the fight.
“Ryan honored the 500k per pound,” Haney posted on X.
In total, Garcia lost a $1.5 million bet for missing weight but allegedly ended up at least $8.5 million in the green on wagers, in addition to his fight purse and pay-per-view percentages.