Ryan Garcia is being suspended for one year and forced to return his guaranteed purse money, and his April 20 victory over Devin Haney has been changed to a no contest, the New York State Athletic Commission announced Thursday.
The 25-year-old Garcia (24-1) additionally was fined $10,000.
Garcia submitted two positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing substance ostarine on the day of the bout and one day before. The “B” sample also came back positive. While Garcia has steadfastly maintained he did not knowingly ingest any PEDs, WBC 140-pound titleholder Haney has disputed that notion, recounting that he can’t recall ever being hit as fiercely as he was by Garcia in that bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Garcia rocked Haney with two left hooks in the first round and proceeded to produce three more knockdowns before winning by majority decision.
Haney’s record returns to being unscathed at 31-0.
But the damages of that bout continue to have ramifications on the Las Vegas fighter.
After earning an eight-figure purse for the Garcia fight, Haney learned this week that the purse bid for his mandatory title defense against Spain’s Sandor Martin generated just one bid, from Top Rank. Haney’s purse under that scenario would be just over $1.6 million, a substantial drop in value from where he was.
Garcia’s suspension is dated to April 20 and is considered an indefinite suspension because he will be assigned to be subjected to random drug testing by a world anti-doping agency accredited lab in Salt Lake City throughout his suspension period.
The $10,000 fine is owed to the New York State Athletic Commission, and $1.2 million in guaranteed purse money must be returned to Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. It is believed Haney will receive an undisclosed percentage of that money.
Reached Thursday, Haney’s conditioning advisor and infamous BALCO figure Victor Conte said, “Garcia’s announcement Wednesday that he was retiring adds an interesting wrinkle to the suspension-period testing mandate.
“Is the reason that he’s retiring to avoid the drug testing?” Conte asked. “If he’s not testing, he’s not complying, right?
“Nobody seems to know the answer, but it’s a very important question. It seems to me, if you’re going to jump through the hoops and hurdles of testing, you don’t deserve the license. The most important part of this is that he has to do random testing.”
In a post on Garcia’s X account on Thursday, he repeated his retirement threat: “I really hope boxing’s good without me. I fought everyone and was willing to. They have turned their back on me. I’m innocent. I stand by that. I don’t care what everyone says. Guns [to] my head, I say I didn’t take PEDs.”
Minutes later, he added posts that read, “Boxing is dead,” and “I’m [gonna] expose the whole game. Say cheese. Boxing’s messing with the wrong one.”
Haney also posted on X, thanking the commission for “doing the right thing” and “making the right decision.”
Haney said, “Me, VADA and the commission should all be splitting that money.”
Again on X, Haney indicated that he is going to take a break himself: “I’ll be back in one year. I had all the belts already. From now on I’m fighting at whatever weight I choose.”
Haney also vented on social media that Garcia should be deprived of al lof his earnings from April 20, including his pay-per-view cut.
“We all know fighters take small guarantees and bank on PPV numbers,” Haney posted on X.
Garcia’s legal team maintained his claim that he was “a victim of substance contamination,” adding that taking banned drugs is “simply not in his nature.”
“For many years, Ryan has voluntarily submitted to random testing, even during out-of-competition periods, and has never had any issues,” the legal team said in a statement. “Ryan will continue to elevate the sport and will be actively involved in advocating for reform. We hope future changes in our system will address issues like this one.
“We want to thank all of the fans who have continued to support Ryan, not only during the great moments but also through the difficult times that life brings. He will be back in the ring soon and better than ever!”
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