Was justice effectively served in the New York State Athletic Commission’s suspension, fine and erasing of victory for Ryan Garcia?
That question marinated in the mind of Devin Haney’s attorney Pat English until the subject of a famed nursery rhyme stuck him, the one that includes the line, “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put (him) back together again.”
“It’s like Humpty Dumpty,” English said. “After the fact, you can do the best you can.
“But justice would’ve been better served if certain things had been done before the fight, like if Ryan had intended to make weight, like he said he would, or if he had no reason to take that (banned performance-enhancing substance Ostarine).
“The commission was left to do rough justice after the fact. They felt it was justice and that’s all that matters.”
At least for now.
English left open the possibility that Haney will pursue financial damages beyond the toll the 25-year-old Garcia was left to pay from Thursday’s verdict.
“Devin Haney and I will be discussing that,” English said.
The New York commission changed Garcia’s April 20 three-knockdown majority decision victory to a no-contest, keeping his record at 24-1 and leaving WBC 140-pound champion Haney still unmarked (on the win-loss ledger) at 31-0.
Garcia tested positive for the banned PED on the day of the fight and at the day-before weigh-in, and Fight Freaks Unite reporter Dan Rafael revealed Thursday that a third positive emerged from a urine test the New York commission took from Garcia.
Beyond the no-contest ruling, Garcia was additionally ordered to return his guaranteed purse money of $1.2 million to Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions while paying the maximum $10,000 fine to the commission and, lastly, enduring an indefinite suspension that can end April 20, 2025, if he passes all of the random drug testing that’s coming his way from a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited lab in Salt Lake City.
“I would’ve also liked to have seen a psychological (treatment) component to this. This young man (Garcia) needs that,” English said.
English scoffed at the repeated insistence by Garcia’s legal team that the fighter’s two positive pre-fight test results (on the day of the fight and from the day-before weigh-in) resulted from ingesting contaminated supplements.
“People don’t give up $1.2 million because of contamination, sorry. Come on,” veteran fight-game attorney English said. “This is the biggest (financial) hit I’ve ever seen in all the years I’ve been doing this. Period.
“This was a hard penalty made harsher because he clearly made things up that were not accurate. That doesn’t endear you to the commission, saying things like, ‘I missed weight on purpose,’ or to claim supplement contamination. I wish (Garcia and his team) would just keep quiet now. It’d serve him better.”
English additionally said Garcia’s day-before-suspension talk of retirement won’t change his required adherence to the random drug testing requirements.
“If he doesn’t get tested, he won’t get his license back,” English said. “Believe me, this is not a rational person who has thought out,” a way to outsmart regulators.
As for Haney, 25, the damage done lingers.
The former undisputed lightweight champion from Las Vegas indicated in social-media statements Thursday that he’s going to take an indefinite break from the sport days after he learned there was only one bid for his WBC 140-pound mandatory title defense against Spain’s Sandor Martin.
Top Rank’s $2.42 million bid would leave Haney with a purse of around just over $1.6 million – a far cry from the expected eight-figure earnings he collected (with pay-per-view revenue added in) from the Garcia no-contest.
Garcia’s legal team responded to the commission ruling with a statement that the fighter has long cooperated with anti-doping testers, and will again.
Garcia attorney Darin Chavez said striking the settlement was best for the fighter because, given Garcia’s emotional state over this situation, his mother’s cancer diagnosis and his recent arrest for suspected felony vandalism in Beverly Hills, Calif., “to go through a long-term contesting of this would be challenging.”
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