Eddie Hearn believes Devin Haney’s lawsuit against Ryan Garcia could be ‘a pivotal moment for the sport’

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn believes Devin Haney’s lawsuit against Ryan Garcia could be a positive tipping for the sport.

Garcia defeated Haney in April in New York on points, dropping Haney three times, but the result was overturned after Garcia tested positive for banned substances.

Haney, on Friday, filed a lawsuit, and Hearn believes it could have significant ramifications on the sport.

“Win, lose or draw in court, I think this is actually a good thing to deter fighters from using performance enhancing drugs because the penalty [implemented in boxing] is not strict enough,” Hearn told Boxing Social. “Like Ryan Garcia is a good example where he’s got a year’s ban. By the time you have six months off and a little break, you’re going back into camp. 

“But the deterrent of losing tens of millions of dollars is much worse. So now that there’s a potential legal action, against someone that takes performance enhancing drugs, I actually think it’s a pivotal moment for the sport in that respect. 

“And I’ve spoken to a lot of lawyers about it, it’s certainly not clear cut either way, but they believe the case has a lot of merit and it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.”