Two months on from the day of his surprise MD12 win over WBC light-welterweight world champion Devin Haney, NYSAC announced Ryan Garcia has been suspended for a year, that victory now changed to a no contest and fined his guaranteed purse money – as the fallout continues – after submitting two positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing substance ostarine.
Garcia’s got some explaining to do
RYAN Garcia’s issues continue to unravel. Garcia submitted two positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug ostarine on the day of the bout, and a day earlier. The B sample, which his team requested be tested too, came back the same.
A one-year suspension, retroactive to his April 20 majority decision victory, has been issued by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), the win changed to a no contest and Garcia must now return a pre-agreed $1.2m guaranteed fight purse figure to his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
The ban is deemed indefinite, as he’ll be subjected to random drug testing by a world anti-doping agency accredited lab in Salt Lake City, Utah, during his suspension and if he fails another or doesn’t comply with their rules, more will arise.
While the former WBC interim lightweight champion has continued to plead his innocence, insisting he didn’t knowingly ingest any PEDs, Haney clearly disagrees – made worse by the fact Garcia would’ve known before fight week that he couldn’t reach the contracted 140lb weight for their bout and didn’t notify anyone.
He weighed in at 143.2lbs, so couldn’t win the light-welterweight title but Haney fought on anyway as weight-based financial penalties were agreed prior.
While Devin’s record has been restored to an unbeaten one – 31-0 with a no contest – in the aftermath now, he took cast immediate doubt over his future after declaring he’d also take a year-long break following ten championship bouts in five years.
The purse bid for his mandatory title defence against Spain’s Sandor Martin generated just one bid, from Top Rank, where he retained undisputed status at 135lbs with a gritty 12-round decision win over Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2022.
As BoxingScene.com reported, Haney’s prospective fight purse in that scenario would be a little more than $1.6m – a considerable drop from the eight-figure fee he is said to have earned last time out and could be motivation for his rumoured hiatus.
“I’ll be back in one year, had all the belts already… from now on I’m fighting at whatever weight I choose,” Haney later tweeted on X (Twitter) while Garcia’s legal team insisted their man was a victim of contaminated substances, saying:
“For many years, Ryan has voluntarily submitted to random testing, even during out-of-competition periods, and has never had any issues. Ryan will continue to elevate the sport and be actively involved in advocating for reform. We hope future changes in our system will address issues like this.”
This situation isn’t yet resolved, but adds another unwanted stain on a sport where PED use has hit the headlines with worrying frequency in recent years.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes hyperlinked or sourced
Mo and Sports 