Boxing analyst Paulie Malignaggi is doubtful that Ryan Garcia will be given much of any suspension for his B sample, confirming that he’d had the banned PED Ostarine in his system when he defeated Devin Haney on April 20th.
Malignaggi Predicts Minimal Suspension for Rising Star
Malignaggi feels Ryan is becoming the new star following Canelo Alvarez and believes he’ll be suspended until his next fight.
There’s no one else in U.S boxing that comes close to the kind of star power that Ryan Garcia has right now, and the New York State Athletic Commission would be messing things up for their state if they were to give Kingry a long suspension.
New York doesn’t bring in boxing like it used to during the days of Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad. Ryan liked fighting there, but he might feel different if he’s given a long suspension by the New York Commission. That’s lost revenue to the state if Ryan chooses not to return due to him feeling jaded about his experience with them.
He wouldn’t be fighting in New York, and who knows if he’d ever want to come back. It’s a lose-lose for New York because Ryan is going to be around for a long time, and you don’t want to burn your bridges this early on in a superstar’s career.
Comparison to Canelo Alvarez’s Suspension
“I’m very pessimistic on this. I remember Canelo Alvarez, who is still the star of boxing, but it’s sort of trickling over to Ryan Garcia now. He was a major star, and he was suspended six months, which, if you look at Canelo Alvarez’s schedule, he’s suspended until his next fight,” said Paulie Malignaggi to ProBox TV, discussing whether a suspension will impact the career of Ryan Garcia.
“While I’d like to be optimistic, the history of boxing and its reputation leads me to believe Ryan will be suspended until he wants to fight next,” said Malignaggi.
The state of Nevada suspended Canelo Alvarez, and he’d been fighting there for ages. So it’s not surprising that he.was given a short suspension by the state. It’s different with Ryan Garcia. He’s only fought once in New York, and it’s unclear whether he intended to return.
Initially, Ryan wanted the fight with Haney to be staged in Las Vegas, where the taxes would be cheaper because there was no state tax.
Algieri: A Two-Tiered Legal System in Boxing
“It’s a two-tiered legal system. It depends on who you are and how much money you bring to the table and where you’re at in your career,” said boxing expert Chris Algieri on whether Ryan will receive a long suspension.
“I’ve been saying this since the outset. This is not going to really affect Ryan Garcia. “Yeah, it’s going to take that fight [win away from the Haney contest]. He doesn’t care. He’s going to say, ‘I still kicked Devin Haney’s a**, and whether it’s on my record or not, everybody knows it, everybody saw it.”
It’s always been like this in boxing, where popular fighters are treated like royalty, and I don’t see that being any different for Ryan. If they come down hard on Ryan Garcia, banning him for a year or two, who replaces him as the star in the U.S?
It’s not going to be Haney because he’s not popular, his style is boring, and he’s not capable of beating top-level opposition unless they’re older, weaker, and much smaller than him.
Gervonta Davis is popular, but he only fights on an annual basis and never takes risky fights. Hence, his next card, on June 15th, will be packaged with David Benavidez. If that was Ryan headlining that card, he wouldn’t need a big name to help bring in the PPV buys.
Possibility of Reduced Ban for Accidental Use
“If it turns out to be a contaminated supplement, which is what his lawyers will push for, he’ll get a six-month ban, which he wasn’t going to fight for six months anyway. I didn’t think he was going to fight for the rest of this year to begin with,” said Algieri.
“So for him, he made a ton of money, he feels he got to beat up. He did beat up Devin Haney. I don’t think it’s going to matter that much for him in the long run. This is boxing. Unfortunately, it’s a two-tiered legal system that we have.
“Whether it was intentional or not, the proof of burden is on them [Team Ryan Garcia] to prove that this was accidental. If that was the case, this is going to be a short ban and Ryan will be back in the ring probably early next year,” said Algieri.
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