Report: Ryan Garcia banned for one year due to failed doping test, Devin Haney’s victory annulled

Ryan Garcia will not fight again any time soon, even if he wants to.

Boxing reporter Dan Rafael broke the news Thursday that Garcia will be banned from competition for at least a year as part of a settlement with the New York State Athletic Commission after testing positive for banned substances following an April 20 fight against rival Devin Haney. Rafael also reported that Garcia will forfeit his official contract money to Golden Boy Promotions totaling $1.1 million and must pay a $10,000 state fine.

Perhaps worst of all for Garcia is that his dramatic majority decision win over Haney was officially converted to a no-contest. Haney’s undefeated record now stands at 31-0, while Garcia’s record drops to 24-1.

The report comes a day after Garcia announced his retirement on social media, the culmination of months of erratic behavior from the 25-year-old boxer. Garcia tweeted a series of hair-raising claims on his social media accounts and ultimately showed up to the Haney fight three pounds overweight, forcing him to pay Haney a $600,000 fine and disqualifying him from winning Haney’s WBC super lightweight title.

Garcia impressed in the contest, knocking down Haney three times and winning on two of the three judges’ scorecards, a victory that has now been erased from the record books.

Haney responded to the news on Twitter, thanking the commission for its decision but questioning the decision to award Golden Boy the fight bonus.

“Thank you also to the commission for doing the right thing and making the right decision. I don’t understand how Golden Boy gets money, as if they have to take some hits. They haven’t even commented on this PED situation.”

On the other hand, Garcia’s team issued a statement denying that the fighter ever knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs:

Ryan Garcia was the victim of contamination by substances whose concentrations amounted to billions or trillions of grams and which gave him no advantage in the ring.

Ryan and his legal team have resolved this issue and are sticking to the truth: he has never intentionally taken any banned substances. It is simply not in his nature.

Ryan has voluntarily submitted to random testing for many years, even out of competition, and has never had any problems. He has maintained an impeccable and clean record throughout his career, taking the sport of boxing to a significantly higher level and earning the respect and admiration of millions of fans worldwide.

His performance against Haney will always be remembered by fans as a masterpiece and will never be forgotten.

Ryan will continue to move the sport forward and actively advocate for reform. We hope that future changes to our system will address issues like this.

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

Garcia’s team argues that the fighter’s positive doping tests were due to contaminated nutritional supplements.

Garcia himself then responded directly to the report on Twitter. He insisted that he never cheated, promised to return after his suspension expired and hinted at a move to the UFC.