After spending much of Thursday engaging in various tirades on social media, some of which included racist language against Black people and insults directed at Muslims, Ryan Garcia has been expelled from any activity for the WBC. This news comes weeks after Garcia was given a one-year suspension retroactive to his April victory over Devin Haney, a win that was overturned after Garcia failed multiple drug tests.
“We reject any form of discrimination,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman wrote on X. “I fear for Ryan well being as he has declined multiple attempts for our help with mental health and substance abuse.”
Predictably, Garcia returned to social media claiming to have been “trolling” before deleting all the relevant posts as well as the apology.
The behavior was very similar to that which Garcia engaged in ahead of the Haney fight. Garcia had acted increasingly unhinged leading up to the right, making controversial and outlandish statements before missing weight while also drinking a beer while on the scales.
Garcia then went on to dominate Haney, scoring multiple knockdowns before taking a decision victory. After the victory, Garcia insisted that everything in the lead-up was an act to throw Haney off.
Garcia’s behavior hasn’t changed much since the fight, however, and given a history of mental health issues, which has even resulted in the cancellation of a previous fight, Sulaiman’s actions are not unexpected.
That said, removing Garcia from WBC activities when he’s still suspended for nearly a year doesn’t carry much weight unless the expulsion lasts longer than the suspension.
