Boxer Ryan Garcia Was Caught Using a Banned Subtance in His Fight Against Devin Haney
"I've never taken a steroid. I don't even know where to get steroids, at the end of the day," said Garcia on Twitter.
May 2 2024, Published 3:40 p.m. ET
On April 20, 2024, Ryan Garcia soundly defeated Devin Haney in their super lightweight fight at Barclays Center. The underdog Garcia knocked Haney down three times and won by majority decision. The judges scored it 112–112, 114–110, and 115–109.
Following the fight, Garcia kept the controversy going. One of his post-fight gems was, “I don’t give a f--k what people say about me. I walked through the fire and still held it down and still beat f--king Devin Haney, and still drank every day and still beat him.” There are about a dozen more odd comments from the post-fight press conference documented on Bed Left Hook.
Did Ryan Garcia cheat? Tests have come back after the fight.
Nearly two weeks after the fight, we’re learning that Garcia may have consumed more than alcohol every day. According to ESPN, “Star boxer Ryan Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance ostarine the day before and the day of his upset win over Devin Haney last month, per a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association letter sent to all parties Wednesday and obtained by ESPN. The urine samples were collected prior to the fight, but the results weren't known until later.”
According to WebMD, “Ostarine is a type of drug called a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). It's not approved by the FDA, but is sometimes found in supplements. Ostarine attaches to proteins in the body known as androgen receptors. When ostarine binds to these receptors, it tells muscles to grow. People use ostarine for athletic performance, involuntary weight loss due to illness, breast cancer, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.”
Ryan Garcia said that everybody knows he doesn’t cheat.
Soon after the news broke that Garcia’s fight against Haney wasn’t on the level, he took to Twitter to release a strongly worded denial. It begins, "Everybody knows that I don't cheat. What can I say? Why didn't they come out with this before the fight, if they found it before? Why would they let me step into the ring as a cheater, and then come out with the victory, and then they post this?
The rant continued, "Again, these are people that are trying to attack me, for whatever reason. But no weapon against me shall prosper, I've never taken a steroid. I don't even know where to get steroids, at the end of the day. I barely take supplements. They’re saying it’s coming from the Ashwagandha, that’s f--king retarded so. Big lies. I beat his a--, f--k outta here, everybody go to Warwick tonight, it’s lit, f--k Haney!”
Just FYI, Ashwagandha is an over-the-counter herbal supplement available at stores like GNC and Warwick is a club in Los Angeles.
Garcia kept tweeting after sharing the video messages. Over the next hour on the social media platform, he shared some gay panic, OJ Simpson’s glove references, praise of Jesus Christ, rejections of a rematch with Haney, and finally, another praise tweet tied to the steroid allegation.
Garcia’s future isn’t certain but it isn't looking good.
According to ESPN, “Garcia has 10 days to request that his B-sample be tested. Garcia's A-sample also screened positive for 19-norandrosterone, but its presence is unconfirmed until further lab analysis.” If the tests come back with the same result, it’s likely Garcia faces a ban.
Two fighters have been caught using the drug, Lucian Bute and Amir Khan. Both fighters had decisions reversed. Bute served a six-month suspension and Khan was given a two-year ban.