Ryan Garcia has some explaining to do.
The 25-year-old boxer scored a career-best win last month against Devin Haney, knocking the previously undefeated world champion to the canvas on three occasions before being awarded a majority decision on the judges’ scorecards after 12 rounds of action in New York’s Barclay’s Center.
However, in a report by boxing reporter Dan Rafael late on Wednesday, he revealed that Garcia had tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in drug tests conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) in both pre and post-fight urine tests. It was also reported that Garcia’s test showed trace elements of metabolites of of performance enhancers linked to 19-Norandrosterone. However, these have not yet been formally confirmed.
In a series of messages posted to social media following the development, Garcia denied any wrongdoing.
Fake news like if I was Donald trump pic.twitter.com/PVg5EW7yLd
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) May 2, 2024
“Fake f*cking news,” he said. “Don’t believe these f*ckers, bro. I never f*cking took a steroid in my f*cking life.
“If they had this information, they should’ve released this before the fight went down. Because why would you let a cheater step into the ring? Right? All of a sudden I win and then you release it? Seems kind of fishy to me. I know in my heart of hearts I didn’t cheat, so I’m gonna keep trolling this shit. This shit is f*cking hilarious. At the end of the day, I’m definitely innocent.
“They’re cheating by trying to take my victory. F*ck them. F*ck these motherf*ckers. Tell them to suck my d*ck. I beat Devin Haney fair and square. You can suck my d*ck. All you motherf*ckers that say I cheated, you guys can all suck my d*ck. I didn’t f*cking cheat a day in my life. Never have, never f*cking will. I don’t move like that. Facts.”
Garcia is now expected to request analysis of his B-samples, which must be communicated in the next 10 days. Should authorities determine that Garcia ingested banned substances ahead of the Haney fight, it could potentially be changed to a no-contest as well as lead to a fine and suspension being imposed on the boxer.
