NEW YORK — American super lightweight boxer Ryan Garcia has denied taking a banned performance-enhancing substance before his victory over WBC world champion Devin Haney in New York last month.
ESPN, citing a leaked letter from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), reported that Garcia had tested positive for ostarine on the day before and day of the fight.
Garcia addressed the report in a video posted on X. “Everybody knows that I don’t cheat,” the 25-year-old said.
“Never taken a steroid. I don’t even know where to get steroids at the end of the day, I barely take supplements. Big lies,” he added according to Reuters.
Garcia floored Haney three times on the way to a majority decision at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to hand his rival the first defeat of his professional career. He missed weight so was unable to claim the title.
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator which produces similar results to anabolic steroids, allowing athletes to increase muscle mass and fitness. It is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
VADA, an independent agency based in Las Vegas that runs testing mostly for boxing and mixed martial arts, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We learned about this situation not too long ago and it’s unfortunate Ryan cheated and disrespected both the fans and the sport of boxing by fighting dirty and breaking positive not once, but twice,” Haney said in a statement to ESPN, adding: “This puts the fight in a completely different light.”
Garcia, who went off as a 6-1 underdog, dropped Haney in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds behind an explosive cocktail of speed and power to win a majority decision.
Haney took a more aggressive tack over the next few rounds and began dutifully working behind the jab, backing the challenger up, rocking him with a right hand in the third and visibly frustrating Garcia as he ate one counter after another while pressing for openings to land his prodigious left hand.
But just when it looked as if Haney was pulling away on the scorecards, Garcia detonated a left hook early in the seventh that sent the champion to the floor for the first time in 32 professional fights.
“I’m disappointed with my performance,” Haney said. “But I showed I’m a true champion and I can fight after being knocked down and hurt. He caught me early, caught me by surprise. We trained for [the left hook], but I got in there and I fell asleep, and he caught me with it.
“I was more surprised than hurt the first time. He jumped on me, like we knew he would, but I was just sleeping. I thought the ref let him turn his back and hold a little too much.”
Garcia landed 106 of 285 blows (37.2%) according to Compubox’s punch statistics, compared to 87 of 214 for Haney (40.7%). But the disparity in power shots made all the difference with Garcia landing more than twice as many (95) as his opponent (45).
