The missing weight thing.... it's turned into a bit of a dirty trick in my opinion.
Haney is a weight bully anyway, he should be fighting at 160 but has the ability to get down to 140lbs. Ryan said fuck it. Ill blow the weight limit and trounce him the added strength, energy from not being weight drained..
Used to be fighters never missed weight and when they did, their reputations were ruined for years. In face in Japan it's still considered a disgrace, if you miss weight in japan you can get a one year suspension.
But in these mega million dollar superfights, no one is going to pull out the day before with all that money on the line and having an alphabet title is worthless these days.
A guy like lomachenko doesn't need a belt and is regarded as a top lb 4 lb guy. Back in the day, you needed a belt to be a champ. The really good fighters today collect titles across weight divisions and even die hard fans can't keep track of who is the champion of which sanctioning body.
So Ryan gambled by blowing weight. Yeah, he doesn't get the belt but he becomes the first guy to beat Haney in a huge fight. Versus making weight, being drained and losing a close decision- that one judge had it a draw, they wanted to give it to haney so fucking bad....
The sport has turned into a joke.