Ryan Garcia shocked the boxing world on April 20 when he dropped Devin Haney three times en route to a majority decision victory. There was already an asterisk next to that victory after Garcia badly missed weight ahead of the bout, but things have continued to get worse for him after a second positive drug test.
On Thursday, the lab results for Garcia’s B-sample came back with an adverse finding for the banned substance ostarine, according to multiple reports. This comes after Garcia reportedly failed a VADA drug test administered ahead of the fight. VADA tested Garcia the day before and the day after the Haney fight.
Garcia reacted to the news by writing, “I F—ING LOVE STEROID” in a since-deleted social media post. He followed it up with a toned-down post reading, “No babe.”
In a statement to CBS Sports on Thursday, Garcia’s legal team insisted that he has never intentionally used a banned substance.
“Ryan Garcia is committed to clean and fair competition and has never intentionally used any banned substance,” Garcia’s legal team wrote. “Soon after being notified of his positive test, Ryan voluntarily had his hair collected and shipped to Dr. Pascal Kintz, the foremost expert in toxicology and hair-sample analysis. The results of Ryan’s hair sample came back negative. This is consistent with contamination and demonstrably proves that Ryan had not ingested Ostarine over a period of time — the only way he would have had any advantage whatsoever in the ring.
“Ryan has voluntarily submitted to tests throughout his career, which have always shown negative results. He also tested negative multiple times leading up to the fight against Haney. All of these factors, combined with his ultra-low levels from samples taken on April 19th and 20th (in the billionth of a gram range), point to Ryan being a victim of supplement contamination and never receiving any performance-enhancing benefit from the microscopic amounts in his system. We are certain that one of the natural supplements Ryan was using in the lead-up to the fight will prove to be contaminated and are in the process of testing the supplements to determine the exact source.”
Veteran boxing reporter Dan Rafael was the report Garcia’s failed test on May 1 for ostarine. Rafael noted that Garcia tested positive on April 19 — the day before the fight — and on April 20 during his post-fight evaluation. ESPN then reported that they had obtained a VADA letter confirming the situation.
After a social media post featuring three crying emojis and “lol,” Garcia briefly went live on X.
“You guys can see fake news,” Garcia said earlier this month. “Fake f—ing news. Don’t believe these f—ers. I never f—ing took a steroid in my f—ing life. I don’t even know how that shit, it’s the weirdest shit ever.
“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.”
Garcia had reportedly been cleared previously of a separate potential positive drug test for the 19-Norandrosterone metabolite, which derives from the banned substance nandrolone. The two positive ostarine tests are likely enough to impact his career.
Potential punishments for the failed tests could include a suspension, fines or having the fight result overturned to a no contest. Haney’s team had previously filed a letter with the New York State Athletic Commission requesting that Garcia be disqualified, amending the result of their fight to a DQ win for Haney, according to Boxing Scene. More likely, the bout will be ruled a no-contest.
Garcia spent the build to the fight engaging in bizarre behavior which included ranting on social media about various conspiracy theories, claiming to be in possession of proof of aliens and claiming to be drinking alcohol regularly, which he admitted after the fight.
After the win, Garcia claimed this was all part of an elaborate plan to “troll” boxing fans, media and Haney and his team. Were that the case, the plan appeared to work perfectly as Garcia pulled off the biggest win of his career. With the test samples coming back positive, however, the result of the fight may be overturned to a no contest.
Of course, Garcia missing weight by more than 3 pounds meant that Garcia was ineligible to win Haney’s WBC junior welterweight championship. The fight was originally planned as Garcia’s first shot at a world championship, as well as an opportunity to prove he could hang with the sport’s elite after getting dropped twice and stopped by Gervonta “Tank” Davis in 2023.
