The WBC has requested further information from Ryan Garcia regarding his failed drugs tests for his fight with Devin Haney.
Garcia, 25, came in overweight, and therefore was ineligible to win the sanctioning body’s super-lightweight title that Haney was defending for the first time, in April at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
He proceeded to repeatedly hurt his previously undefeated opponent, and recorded knockdowns in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds in the process of earning a majority decision. It was then reported that he had tested positive for the banned substance ostarine; Garcia has repeatedly claimed he didn’t intentionally cheat.
“We have consistently maintained Ryan was a victim of supplement contamination and has never intentionally used any banned or performance-enhancing substances,” his legal team even more recently said.
Ostarine has been on the banned list of the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2008, and in 2022 was listed by the agency as an anabolic agent.
“As it has been widely publicized around the world,” read the statement from the WBC, “the contents of Ryan Garcia’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ sample containers collected on April 19, and April 20, 2024, yielded adverse analytical findings for Ostarine. Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator (‘SARM’). Ostarine and all SARMs are banned substances at all times under the WBC Clean Boxing Program.
“Upon receiving the notification of the Adverse Findings, the WBC immediately started its Results Management Process under the governing WBC CBP’s Testing and Results Management Guidelines. Under that process, the WBC notified Mr. Garcia of the adverse findings, provided him with information about his right to witness the opening of the ‘B’ sample container, and to have the contents of the ‘B’ sample container tested. The ‘B’ sample containers’ contents also yielded adverse analytical findings for Ostarine.
“In addition, the WBC’s Result Management Unit’s notification to Mr. Garcia requested available information and/or documents to assist the Unit’s determination of the circumstances leading or reasonably related to the adverse findings. The WBC Results Management Unit anticipates receiving the available information requested toward the end of June.
“In the meantime, the WBC has continued to investigate the pharmacological characteristics of Ostarine, the details of the tests’ results that led to the adverse findings, and any other explanation that might relate to the adverse findings.
“The WBC will continue to provide updates of the process it is undertaking as additional information becomes available.”
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