Ryan Garcia Bashes Devin Haney For Poor Ticket Sales – ‘He’s Not A Draw, Can’t Crack An Egg’
Ryan Garcia has criticised Devin Haney’s star power, stating he cannot sell tickets.
The pair will face off on April 20 for the WBC Junior Welterweight Belt. Garcia is the bigger name, with over 10 million followers on Instagram. He also headlined the biggest event of 2023 with Gervonta Davis. Their fight sold over 1.2 million PPVs and produced over a $20 million live gate. It became the highest-grossing event of 2023.
However, things are not going well for the Haney fight. He blamed Haney’s lack of star power. The Dream sold an alleged 50,000 PPV buys for his last bout with Regis Prograis, although he did sell out the arena in his hometown. While Haney is a two-weight world champion with more accomplishments than Garcia, his star power does not match that.
Garcia On Haney
“I am underestimated. They hate me because I won’t shut up. I feel like I deserve more. I feel it should have been 65-35, to be honest. [And] I like to make big fights happen. A lot of boxers have an ego and don’t want to admit that they’re not a draw, so I have to work around that.
“As a person that wants to amplify the sport, money is going to come and go. Devin Haney is not a draw, and I definitely have been carrying this promotion on my back by myself. Nobody wants to watch a guy that supposedly can’t crack an egg. We’re not going to underestimate him. He may have power when I step in there with him. I don’t know,” Garcia stated
Reports also indicate the fight is struggling to sell for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Ringside seats are between $5,000-10,000, while DAZN has cut the PPV price from $80 to $69.99. This shows a huge worry, with Garcia stating that the prices are too high. The promoters could wait and hope the tickets sell out at the last minute.
Ticket Prices
However, there is also the option of giving out tickets on a complimentary basis or reducing the prices to fill out the arena. This may damage either fighter moving forward with other negotiations for big fights since it could have the impact of lowering their leverage. While Garcia does want lower ticket prices, it does not appear to be the case currently.
“I was a big advocate for lowering the prices. I personally think the prices were very high, and I want everybody to be in the building. [And] I don’t think a lot of Americans can afford $500 tickets for the top row. I wouldn’t even pay that, and I have enough money to do that, but I’m not going to pay $500 to be at the top row. That’s crazy,” Garcia said
With less than two weeks, there is little time to sell out the arena. In a fight that was dubbed as one of the biggest this year, the race is on to show the boxing world it deserves to be a main event.
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