As Bill Haney sees it, the ongoing fall from grace of Ryan Garcia has been the most disillusioning turn he’s ever witnessed in boxing.
“We need to help the fighters. We need to address this,” Haney told BoxingScene in an early morning phone call following Garcia’s Saturday arrest in Beverly Hills, Calif., on suspicion of felony vandalism at a lavish hotel.
“Ryan Garcia has consistently said he’s on something. We’ve got to believe him now, right? I can see what Ryan is going through. His team is failing on him.”
Haney, the father, manager and trainer of the formerly unbeaten WBC 140-pound champion Devin Haney, whom Garcia knocked down three times and defeated by majority decision April 20 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, says he’s been left astounded by the events surrounding the fight.
The bout was preceded by erratic behavior from Southern California’s Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs), who weighed in a staggering three-plus pounds over the weight limit and lost his ability to win the belt, then reportedly paid Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) a $1.5 million fine for the transgression.
Although he repeatedly rocked Haney with hard lefts, knocking down the champion three times, Garcia submitted two positive drug tests for the banned performance-enhancing substance Ostarine, with the “B” samples confirming the results.
He awaits a likely serious sanction from the New York State Athletic Commission, including a suspension, fine and the changing of his victory to a no-contest.
Recently, Garcia announced his mother, Lisa, is battling cancer.
In a Sunday statement, Garcia’s attorney wrote, “Ryan has been open about his struggles with mental health over the years and at this time he is dealing with an intense emotional burden.”
Hours before Garcia’s arrest, he complained he had not received the pay-per-view portion of his purse from his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and its streaming partner, DAZN. Devin Haney echoed that on “X.”
To which, Golden Boy publicists responded with a formal statement pointing the fighters away from social media and to the fine points of their contracts.
Minutes later, news broke of Garcia’s arrest.
“Let everyone take a look at it. Put it under a microscope,” Bill Haney said. “Am I concerned about (Garcia). Of course. Very much so.”
Haney said he wonders who else is.
“When I see De La Hoya thrust (Garcia) to a place he’s not deserving – blowing off fighting for the belt, not caring about the drug testing or the transparency he owes Devin Haney – he’s doing so to the detriment of boxing,” Bill Haney said. “Is boxing going to be this corrupt bullsh*t?
“Parents need to know this truth before sending their kids to this sport. It’s a corrupt business. Stay away from it.”
Garcia’s case is obviously personal to the elder Haney, and it strikes a deeper chord because he’s less than 72 hours away from receiving the manager of the year award from the Boxing Writers Assn. of America for his son’s 2023 campaign as an undisputed lightweight champion and new 140-pound belt-holder.
Bill Haney brought his son to boxing after enduring a prison stay for drug trafficking.
“I wanted to do the right thing for once in my life – overwork, overdeliver,” Bill Haney said. “But people bring the street mentality I once lived through to boxing. I hear, ‘Boxing is cool.’ Everything is not cool.”
He took aim at Garcia’s father, Henry, whom Bill Haney has previously said is more concerned about his son’s earnings than his well-being.
“Where are you now? You want to spin this s**t?” Haney asked. “They’re on some bulls**t. Listen, you’re talking to an ex-professional bulls**ter. That’s why I can come here and say this.”
Haney wants more involvement from promoters, from the international sanctioning bodies and perhaps by the formation of an international body to apply year-round, Olympic-style drug testing and the type of authority that has been lacking in the Garcia matter.
“It’s failing now. No one who you explain the boxing business to says, ‘Oh, that’s great,’” Haney said. “You get into this sport in the first place as a minority in life, and then you have to get through all this bulls**t?”
The Haneys have sought to do things differently, negotiating fight-by-fight arrangements with promoters and seeking to maintain independence.
Losing to Garcia brought them face to face with the sport’s hazardous loopholes.
“This s**t is worse than anything. If we can’t administer a real drug-testing program with teeth, we can’t control the show,” Bill Haney said. “We can’t do fighters like this, man. And if I’m manager of the year, I need to speak to this.
“I’m putting my foot down as a man, and as a father.”
Bill Haney expressed hope in the involvement of Saudi Arabia’s His Excellency Turki Alalshikh in the sport. In addition to staging the undisputed heavyweight championship in his country, Alalshikh is bringing a stacked card to the U.S. Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.
“I want to know he’s coming in to do something different,” Bill Haney said. “The fighters stand up there getting pummeled by each other, but they have no medical or dental coverage. What are the promoters doing for them?
“These are prime years for these guys. They’re not guaranteed longevity and they get f**ked when they’re in it, manipulated all over the place. That’s horrible.”
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