Ryan Garcia has taken to social media to protest his innocence after news broke that he’d twice tested positive for banned substances on April 19 and 20, the day before and the day of his fight with Devin Haney in Brooklyn, New York.
Garcia tested positive for two substances, ostarine and 19-norandrosterone, with the latter set to be analysed further by Carbon Isotope Ratio testing. It was detected in his urine sample following the April 19 test, which was conducted by the Las Vegas-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA).
Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) claimed a shock majority decision victory of rival Haney, dropping the current WBC super-lightweight champion three times during the contest to claim the most prominent win of his career to date. On April 19, he also failed to make the contracted 140lbs weight limit, coming in at 143 1/4lbs.
The 25-year-old protested his innocence on social media platform X. Garcia has accused unnamed figures of attempting to take his ‘greatest victory away’ while insisting that his failed tests are ‘fake news.’
“Fake news, like if I was Donald Trump,” Ryan posted on X to his followers. “I’m [going to] find out who paid who to create this lie. They are trying to take my greatest victory away. Kinda sad when you think about it,” Garcia added.
The Golden Boy Promotions fighter has also downplayed the possibility of a rematch with Haney, despite his willingness for a sequel following his victory last month in New York.
“Nah, I ain’t going to rematch him [Haney]; I beat him easy, fair and square,” Garcia posted later on the social media platform. “I’d be damned if I rematch him.”
Any talk of a rematch is pointless with these test results hanging over him, however.
“Why in the world would I volunteer for a drug test if I planned on taking drugs?
“Make it make sense?” Garcia concluded.
