Ryan Garcia’s win over Devin Haney already carried an asterisk after Garcia badly missed weight ahead of the fight. Things only got more complicated this week when it was announced that Garcia had failed drug tests the day before and the day of the fight.
The situation has caused significant confusion for many. Garcia’s win is almost certain to be overturned, Haney will once again officially be undefeated but fans saw Garcia thrash Haney, dropping him three times en route to a majority decision win. In several ways, neither man comes out of their fight looking good.
There are plenty of questions about the future for both and we’ve attempted to address some of them below. Other questions won’t be able to be answered until the dust settles from Garcia’s failed drug tests.
Will there be a rematch?
While the reasons for a rematch are clear, and include the potential for both men to make ridiculous amounts of money, it would be surprising if a rematch came about. Garcia shot down the idea shortly after news of the failed drug test broke. In his mind, Garcia got the win, why ruin that by running it back?
Also, it’s easy to see why Haney and his camp would want nothing to do with a rematch on their side. Garcia’s behavior ahead of the fight was bizarre, even if an act, and he didn’t bother to make weight, treating it as a joke and bragging about the weight advantage he’d bring with him to the ring. Add in a failed drug test and why would Haney want to subject himself to another round of dealing with Garcia?
Haney also made this clear when he sat down with ESPN to discuss the situation.
“Honestly, I’m not too interested in [a rematch],” Haney said. “You know, during the build up we saw a lot of interesting things from him, we seen his character, we seen the guy cheat. We see the type of person that he is.
“I don’t see myself ever, ever getting back into the ring (with him). But I’m a fighter, I’m speaking right now with how I feel, but we never know what the future holds.”
Where does Haney’s career stand after everything?
Haney is still WBC junior welterweight champion. The title wasn’t on the line after Garcia missed weight, so Haney does still have a good deal of power moving forward. Garcia isn’t a 140-pound fighter, so that’s one foe out as being viewed as higher ranked in the division.
The other champions in the division are Subriel Matias (IBF), Teofimo Lopez (WBO) and Isaac Cruz (WBA). Matias looks like a horrible fight for Haney after the issues Garcia exposed but Haney would likely be a slight favorite over Lopez, who has melted down when facing risk-averse pure boxers, and a heavy favorite against Cruz.
The loss to Garcia — which will almost certainly be overturned into a no contest because of Garcia’s failed drug tests — did lead to a re-evaluation of Haney’s standing in the sport and knocked him from pound-for-pound lists, but he’s still a massively talented fighter, a world champion and at least in the top three of the 140-pound division.
Haney and his team will certainly take their time in getting back to the ring and choosing an opponent who will allow the 25-year-old to start to rebuild some momentum.
What does this all mean for Garcia?
First of all, Garcia can request to have his “B sample” tested to confirm the VADA findings. Generally, the A and B samples return the same findings. But Garcia does have that as the first option. Ostarine has been frequently linked to contaminated supplements, so Garcia could make the case (possibly even honestly) that he did not knowingly use it. The fight would still be a no contest, but Garcia could see less punishment as a result if the failed test can be linked to a contaminated supplement.
VADA did also state that Garcia tested positive for 19-Norandrosterone, though isotope ratio mass spectrometry analysis was still being conducted on that portion of the test. If that does come back as a confirmed positive, it could complicate matters for Garcia’s defense.
As far as Garcia’s career in the ring, it’s hard to say what comes next. Part of that comes down to not knowing the level of suspension Garcia will end up facing for the failed drug tests. Boxing is a sport that can change quickly and if Garcia is out for a year or more, it’s hard to say what would come next.
After beating Haney, Garcia said there is no way he can make 140 pounds but also seemed to not want to move all the way to 147, seemingly suggesting he’d use his power as an A-side to demand fighters meet him somewhere around 144-145 pounds.
This speaks to something about Garcia that is becoming clear: he doesn’t seem to care much about being world champion. There’s something respectable about that given the political games that go into dealing with sanctioning bodies. Garcia didn’t bother to make weight against Haney in his first chance to win a world title and followed up the biggest win of his career saying he was planning to fight between divisions.
