Bill Haney, the father and trainer of former junior welterweight titleholder and unified lightweight champ Devin Haney, has described the fighter’s lawsuit against Ryan Garcia as an opportunity to set a precedent for the future.
Haney, 26, filed a lawsuit against 26-year-old Garcia, of Victorville, California, in New York last September seeking damages for fraud, battery and breach of contract in connection with Garcia’s doping violation after their title fight at Barclays Center in April.
Bill believes the lawsuit can help clean the system, preventing fighters from cheating.
“This lawsuit is to ensure that champions are clean and that there will be ramifications and consequences behind anyone that’s using PEDs in any form,” Bill told Fight Hub TV. “We’ve heard fighters speak out about that and we believe this would serve as a precedent for future fighters.”
Haney, 31-0 (15 KOs), was brutally beaten by Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), suffering three knockdowns in rounds seven, 10, and 11 en route to a majority decision defeat. The result was later overturned to a no contest by the New York State Athletic Commission after Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug ostarine.
The move saw the New York State Athletic Commission hand Garcia a one-year suspension. He was also fined $1.2 million after reaching a settlement with the commission.
“Ostarine is a banned substance. It is a PED and whatever reason that he used this, we know that ostarine helps with speed and with recovery,” Bill Haney said. “Even more detrimental to an opponent is that it helps with power, and he has power. So to enhance the power and to use ostarine, he definitely had an advantage. It’s something that he pleaded guilty to the New York State Athletic Commission, and Golden Boy Promotions was awarded $1,000,000 for it.”
The duo – Haney and Garcia – are said to be considering a rematch, but many believe the lawsuit could prevent it from happening. Bill Haney told Fight Hub TV that his son was ready to face anyone on a level playing field.
“Devin wants to fight everybody, anybody that the people wanna see, more importantly he’s not using drugs, and he doesn’t expect anyone else to use drugs. We’re never giving this guy a rematch because of so and so reasons. Well, we listen. We do it for the people, man. We do what the people call for.”
Bill, however, took the blame for not being vigilant with Team Garcia before the first fight.
“Him, as a fighter, he’s concentrating on fighting and preparation, but then from a management standpoint, I have to take the blame,” Bill said. “I failed, and that part of it that falls on me because I’m supposed to make sure that, that he’s straight, that the other fighter isn’t on drugs. We weren’t able to detect the drugs because, obviously, you’re able to stay hydrated and mask the drugs until the very last minute. As he cut the weight, as the water went, the drugs were detected in his blood tissue.”
It was announced last week that Devin Haney had signed up to 24/7 testing with VADA, 365 days a year, and that he could return at the end of March.
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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