Ryan Garcia denied using performance-enhancing drugs in a video posted on social media Wednesday night after ESPN reported he had tested positive for a banned substance.
Garcia defeated his former amateur rival Devin Haney by majority decision in New York on April 20. Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first defeat, but could not win the title because he was over the weight limit.
Star boxer Ryan Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance ostarine the day before and the day after his upset win over Devin Haney last month, according to a letter sent by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association to all parties on Wednesday and obtained by ESPN.
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Urine samples were collected before the fight, but the results were known later.
Garcia has 10 days to request that his B-sample be tested. Garcia’s A-sample also tested positive for 19-norandrosterone, but its presence is not confirmed until further laboratory analysis.
“Everyone knows I don’t cheat,” Garcia said in a video posted on X. “I never took steroids. … I don’t even know where to get steroids. … I hardly take supplements. Big lie, I beat him.” Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions said in a statement that it is working with Garcia’s team “to figure out how this conclusion was reached.” “Ryan has made multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances — and we believe him,” Golden Boy said in its statement. Garcia, 25, knocked Haney down three times and won by majority decision, but that result could now be overturned unless a B-sample comes back negative, which is rare. “We learned of this situation a long time ago and it is unfortunate that Ryan disrespected both the fans and the sport of boxing by fighting dirty and testing positive not once, but twice,” Haney said in a statement to ESPN. “… Ryan should apologize to the fans, and with his recent tweets he still thinks this is a joke.
We risk our lives to entertain people. You don’t play boxing. This puts fighting in a completely different light. Despite the loss, I still fought with my shield on and got back up! People die in this sport. This is no joke.” Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) also missed weight before the fight, registering 143.2 pounds for the WBC 140-pound title fight. Garcia paid Haney (31-1, 15 KOs) more than $600,000 for failing to make weight. It also meant Garcia was ineligible to win the title, although he moved up to number two in ESPN’s junior welterweight rankings after the big upset.
Haney, who fights out of Las Vegas, remained the junior welterweight champion after the loss. He fell to fourth in ESPN’s 140-pound rankings and lost his pound-for-pound recognition after ESPN ranked him sixth in the bout.
“Safety, fairness and integrity are vitally important in professional athletic competition,” the New York State Athletic Commission said in a statement to ESPN. “The commission is communicating with VADA and reviewing the matter.”
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that binds to proteins in the body and effectively signals muscles to grow. It is used to aid performance by helping athletes increase the rate of muscle building and fat loss as well as enhance stamina and recovery capacity.
It has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list since 2008 and was listed as an anabolic agent by WADA in 2022.
Ostarine has been used in boxing before. Lucian Bute tested positive for it after a draw with Badou Jack in a WBC super middleweight title fight in 2016. The result was changed to a DQ win for Jack.
Amir Khan was handed a two-year ban by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) after testing positive for ostarine after losing to Kell Brook by sixth round TKO in 2022.
Ostarine is a PED you have to take in extremely large quantities. It will be important to know what the levels that Garcia tested at. If it's in the picogram level, it suggests contaminated supplements. That is common. But it was IRMS tested, so it was there. How much is…
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) May 2, 2024
According to ESPN BET, Haney was a -900 favorite, but he closed in at -575 after Garcia missed weight. The slick-boxing Haney, the former undisputed lightweight champion, had never been knocked down entering the fight, but Garcia dropped him to the canvas with his lightning-fast left hooks in Rounds 7, 10 and 11 and earned the win.
The win was a career-changing performance for Garcia, who has never won a world title but has a huge social media presence with more than 12 million followers on Instagram. His only career loss came via seventh-round TKO against Gervonta Davis last April.
What is Ostarine?
According to WebMD, “Ostarine is a type of drug called a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). It has not been approved by the FDA but is sometimes found in supplements.” “Ostarine attaches to proteins in the body called androgen receptors,” the WebMD overview continues. “When ostarine binds to these receptors, it tells muscle 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.
” While a close investigation doesn’t confirm Garcia’s intent to cheat, many will read the drug’s description and immediately make a connection to Garcia’s failed attempts to meet the 140-pound limit for his fight with Haney.
Garcia missed weight for the fight by more than three pounds over the contracted limit. A fighter, especially one who is trying to gain weight while maintaining muscle, strength, and stamina, may benefit from taking Ostarine. Lucien Bute tested positive for Ostarine before his majority draw with Badou Jack in April 2016. More recently, Amir Khan tested positive for the drug before his TKO loss to Kell Brook in February 2022.
Does this mean Garcia intentionally cheated? No, but like all college and professional athletes, Garcia needs to know what he takes into his system. Food and especially supplements should be checked to avoid failing a drug test for banned substances.
How often does a B-sample differ from an A-sample?
Garcia has ten days to request a B-sample of his test. B-samples with different results than an A-sample are rare. In 2006, American track and field star Marion Jones tested positive for erythropoietin in her A-sample but negative in her B-sample, leading to her exoneration.
