Ryan Garcia Tests Positive for Performance-Enhancing Drugs
Popular boxer Ryan Garcia tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug (PED) called ostarine on the days before and after his win over Devin Haney last month. The controversial revelation was shared through a letter sent by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
ESPN, who obtained a copy of the document, reported that doping allegations have been brought up against the rising star. It has cast a shadow over Garcia’s recent accomplishment, giving rise to suspicions that he had an unfair advantage.
According to the cable sports channel, he also tested positive for 19-norandrosterone, another substance that has been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. However, keep in mind that the presence of the second drug has yet to be confirmed by carbon isotope ratio testing.
The boxer now faces a narrow 10-day window to get a second round of testing.
If the b-sample tests positive for the anabolic agent, which is highly likely, it could result in suspension and the reversal of his career-altering win against Haney. Their April 20 fight would then become a no-contest match.
The boxer, who held the World Boxing Council interim lightweight title in 2021, has denied any wrongdoing in a video posted to X, calling it “fake news.”
Garcia stood his ground, saying, “Everybody knows that I don’t cheat… Never taken a steroid… I don’t even know where to get steroids…. I barely take supplements. Big lies, I beat his ass.”
“Supposedly they had it already but they release it after I win? It makes no sense. I tested the day of the fight, nothing. … Somebody paying somebody,” he continued.
Garcia’s promoter, Golden Boy, defended the athlete in a statement: “Ryan has put out multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances—and we believe him. We are working with his team to determine how this finding came to be and will address this further once we conclude that process.”
The 25-year-old scored three knockdowns against Devin Haney, ESPN’s No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer. He won by a majority decision at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 20. Though didn’t win his WBC junior welterweight title because he weighed 3.2 pounds above the division limit, he did hand Haney his first professional defeat.
Haney, left to lick his wounds, shared his two cents on Garcia’s drug situation. “It’s unfortunate Ryan cheated and disrespected both the fans and the sport of boxing by fighting dirty and breaking positive not once, but twice,” he told ESPN.
“Ryan owes the fans an apology, and by his recent Tweet he still thinks this is a joke. We put our lives on the line to entertain people for a living.” Haney continued.
“You don’t play boxing. This puts the fight in a completely different light,” he explained. “Despite the disadvantage, I still fought on my shield and got back up! People die in this sport. This isn’t a joking matter.”
Based on information from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the drug ostarine “has been shown to have advantageous effects on skeletal tissue properties, reducing muscle wasting and improving physical function in males.”
The androgen receptor modulator has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2008.
PEDs have been used in boxing before. In 2022, Amir Khan—Olympic silver medallist and former world champion—was handed a two-year ban from all sports after he tested positive for ostarine following his fight with Kell Brook. Lucian Bute, the Romanian-Canadian professional boxer, also tested positive for the substance in 2016 after fighting titleholder Badou Jack.
