Ryan Garcia Agrees to Deal for Suspension and Fine

Thursday afternoon saw a quick resolution to Ryan Garcia’s positive PED tests pre and post-fight for his April 20 win in New York over Devin Haney.

That resolution is that Garcia has agreed to be suspended for one year retroactive to the fight date, forfeit his base salary of over $1 million, and his majority decision win be overturned to a no contest.

Ryan Garcia Agrees to Suspension Deal and Fine

Our Insider Dan Rafael broke the news earlier on Thursday evening.

BREAKING: Ryan Garcia/legal team have made settlement agreement with NYSAC. He has agreed to the following: suspension of at least 1 year; forfeiture of his $1.1M official contract purse (goes to GB, Haney may get %), $10k fine (state max); fight officially a no contest. #boxing

— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) June 20, 2024

The Controversy Came to a Head

There had been a looming hearing, where Garcia could have been facing an even longer suspension for having tested positive for the banned substance Ostarine not only on the day before but also immediately after the fight.

Haney and his team had sent a legal letter to the NYSAC demanding a lengthy suspension for Garcia and also that the outcome be overturned to a disqualification. While that DQ option has happened in the past, it is uncommon for a commission to reverse who won a fight.

Haney posted on Twitter/X Thursday evening,

Thank you too the commission for doing the right thing & making the right decision.. I don’t understand how golden boy is getting any money as if they took any punches. They haven’t even spoke out about this PED situation https://t.co/9exXRvsQEk

— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) June 20, 2024

Garcia’s Team Reacts

For his part, Garcia has continued to maintain the positive tests were due to contaminated supplements that he took in training and his legal team released the following statement,

“For many years, Ryan has voluntarily submitted to random testing, even during out-of-competition periods, and has never had any issues,” the legal team said in a statement. “Ryan will continue to elevate the sport and will be actively involved in advocating for reform. We hope future changes in our system will address issues like this one.

“We want to thank all of the fans who have continued to support Ryan, not only during the great moments but also through the difficult times that life brings. He will be back in the ring soon and better than ever!”

Another variable in the controversy is that Garcia didn’t come close to making the 140 lb weight to challenge for Haney’s WBC junior welterweight title. He then bragged about the fact that he purposely knew he wasn’t going to make weight and therefore, didn’t put his body through anything stringent to try to get down three more pounds. Thus, it gave him an advantage that Haney did not have, who properly did his weight cut to get to the 140 lb. limit.

Haney, his father Bill and their team decided to proceed with the Golden Boy Boxing main event at Barclays Center, and Garcia promptly dropped Haney early in the fight and multiple times on his way to a majority decision win. However, any joy in the victory was short-lived, when the news of the positive drug test broke shortly after the fight.