Former welterweight champion Keith Thurman feels Ryan Garcia should receive “at least a one-year suspension” from boxing for his positive test for a banned PED Ostarine leading to his clash against Devin Haney on April 20th.
Thurman questions whether Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) is “too big” a star to be reprimanded and will instead receive a “slap on the wrist.” It’s too early to know whether Ryan will be cleared of the PED claims.
His B-sample will be checked on May 22nd, and we don’t know the test results for that. Ryan is on his way to big things in the sport, and it would be a shame for him to be suspended for any length of time.
Boxing in the United States would be shooting itself in the foot to have Ryan suspended for 1-2 years, as he’s arguably the biggest star and there’s no telling how far he can go in the next year or two.
Some believe Ryan is capable of becoming the sport’s first billionaire if he keeps winning, but obviously being taken out of action for one to two years will hurt his potential. It would hurt the sport even more because there isn’t anyone in America that compares.
Thurman: “You’re Ruining Your Image”
“You’re getting paid, and you’re ruining your own image. You did all these antics. The kid doesn’t really care about his image,” Keith Thurman told 210BoxingTv about Ryan Garcia.
“He has one of the biggest fan bases in boxing with 10 million Instagram followers [correction: 12.2 million]. He’s trending like no other person in boxing in the modern age right now.”
Thurman is coming down hard on Ryan with his comments, believing that he’s ruining his image. Ryan’s popularity appears to be intact rather than decreasing over the PED scandal. It’s going to take a lot more than this to deflate Ryan’s star power.
Suspension or Slap on the Wrist?
“We got to see. Is he too big, is he so big that he’s going to get a slap on the wrist and walk out like a King? Is he too big or will he be reprimanded?” said Thurman, talking about Ryan Garcia’s positive test for the banned PED Ostarine for his April 19th and 20th tests for his fight against Devin Haney.
“Theoretically, there should at least be a one-year suspension. Is there going to be a two-year? What is going to happen? A lot of people want to know. It’s all very unfortunate. You’ve got someone who is undefeated [Haney].
“Is it now turning into a no-contest? A lot of people like what they saw [from Ryan with his win over Haney]. We do this for the entertainment. It was entertaining. He’ll still be able to come back and prove himself, and then if the ruling is an actual ruling, it’s a no contest. Then he’s going to be an undefeated champion again,” said Thurman.
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