Ryan Garcia reportedly tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug the day before and the day of his fight against Devin Haney. The Victorville, California native defeated the WBC super lightweight champion of San Francisco by majority decision on April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
According to ESPN citing a VADA letter, Garcia tested positive for Ostarine also known as Enobosarm. The LA-based boxer has 10 days to request that his B-sample be tested. According to the report, his “A-sample also screened positive for 19-norandrosterone, but its presence is unconfirmed until further lab analysis”.
“I came here to address this bull f*** s**t that I cheated,” Ryan Garcia said in response to news in a video posted on X. “Everybody knows that I don’t cheat. What can I say? Why didn’t they come out with this before the fight, if they founded it before? Why would they let me step into the ring as a cheater and then come out with the victory, and then the post this?”
“Again, these are the people that are trying to attack me for whatever reason. [I’ve] never taken a steroid. I don’t even know where to get steroids. I barely take supplements. Big lies, I beat his a**.”
In addition, Golden Boy sent out a statement that reads: “Ryan has put out multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances – and we believe him. We are working with his team to determine how this finding came to be and will address this further once we conclude that process.”
Ryan Garcia dropped Devin Haney in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds. In the seventh round the challenger was deducted a point for punching on the break. After 12 rounds, one judge scored the fight 112-112, while two other judged had 114-110 and 115-109 for Garcia. The latter missed weight by 2.3 lbs and was ineligible to claimed Haney’s WBC 140 lbs title.