Ryan Garcia Issued One-Year Suspension by NYSAC, Full Fund Forfeiture in Devin Haney Fight
Ryan Garcia will spend the first year of his recently announced retirement under suspension.
A ring confirmed that a settlement had been reached with the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) that would keep Garcia out of the ring until at least April 20, 2025. He was also fined $10,000—the maximum allowed by the NYSAC—and must forfeit all of his earnings. A $1,100,000 fight fund, as listed in the contracts submitted to NYSAC.
The seven-player fund will go back to Golden Boy Promotions, Garcia’s promoter. The Ring has learned that Haney will likely receive an undisclosed percentage of that amount. That number doesn’t include any income earned from their respective DAZN pay-per-view events, where both Garcia and Haney allegedly received—but will receive—eight healthy payouts.
Garcia is required to undergo random drug testing at that time and must produce clean samples within a period of one year. Failure to do so will result in a longer suspension than he was assigned on Thursday.
The decision came as the 25-year-old boxer was under investigation after testing positive for the banned drug Ostarine in connection with his April 20 fight with Devin Haney.
“The New York State Athletic Commission (Commission) has reached an agreement with Ryan Garcia following his fight on April 20 at Barclay’s Center,” said a NYSAC spokesperson. A ring. “Under the terms of the Consent Order, Mr. Garcia is subject to the following actions:
1) his victory over Mr. Devin Haney changed to an official “no contest”;
2) his bag was abandoned;
3) a fine of $10,000.00 has been imposed; and,
4) his New York State professional boxing license will be suspended until April 20, 2025, and until such time as he provides a clean bill of health to the Commission.
“The Commission will continue to hold athletes to the highest standards and protect the integrity of all sports under our jurisdiction.”
Testing is done through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).
Garcia was crowned the winner by majority decision that night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. An already tainted victory after his heartbreaking test failure took a turn for the worse after two drug tests produced Ostarine findings. Samples collected on April 19 after weighing and on April 20 after the fight revealed the banned substance.
Thursday’s decision made the fight a non-contest. His record is now 24-1, with 20 shutouts.
Haney’s previously unblemished record was restored to 31-0, with 15 KOs and one No-Contest. He retained his WBC 140-pound title despite the first loss, as Garcia was also 3.2 kilograms over the weight limit.
“Thank you[to] commission to do the right thing and make the right decision,” Haney wrote in X. “I don’t understand how [G]the old one [B]oh [Promotions] you get any money like they took any punches. They never talked about the PED situation.”
Golden Boy has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
Garcia’s legal team commented on the verdict and continued to assert their client’s innocence.
“Ryan Garcia was a victim of drug contamination, and the levels are measured in billions and billions of grams, which did not give any benefit to the ring,” Garcia’s team said in a statement through a spokesperson. “Ryan, along with his legal team, has resolved this matter and is firmly maintaining his truth: he did not knowingly take any prohibited substance. It’s just not in his nature.
“For many years, Ryan has voluntarily submitted to unplanned tests, even during non-competition periods, and has never had any problems. He has maintained a good and clean record throughout his career, promoting and surpassing the sport of boxing, respected and admired by millions of fans around the world.
Fans will always remember his performance against Haney as a masterclass, and that will never be erased.
Ryan will continue to develop the sport and will play a major role in promoting change. We hope that future changes in our system will address problems like these.”
The boxer’s direct responses were not so good.
“They took away my victory,” Garcia wrote on X when news of the decision broke. “Okay, I’m retired. I will be back in a year. I was already retired so I will just come back from retirement for a year.”
Garcia has always insisted that positive test results come from dirty things. As previously reported by The Ring, opened and used containers of Body Health Perfect Amino and NutraBIO Super Carb were transported to the same lab that tested Garcia and Haney.
Lab confirmed trace amounts of Ostarine in both samples. However, the final reports did not confirm the claim of contamination due to the absence of sealed containers in those same lot numbers.
Apparently, those results also failed to match the New York commission.
