Ryan Garcia’s majority-decision upset of Devin Haney has been overturned by the New York State Athletic Commission after the star boxer tested positive for the PED ostarine.
The settlement between Garcia’s legal team and the NYSAC, confirmed to the Guardian by a commission source, restores Haney’s undefeated record by altering the result to a no-contest.
Garcia has been suspended a minimum of one year from the date of the fight, which took place on 20 April in Brooklyn. He will also forfeit the entirety of his $1.1m contracted purse to Golden Boy Promotions and must pay the state-maximum fine of $10,000 to the commission.
Boxing writer Dan Rafael was first to report the news of Thursday’s settlement.
“I want to thank the commission and the fans who stood by me during this whole process,” Haney said in a statement to ESPN. “The facts are the facts and I wasn’t on an even playing field. Happy I was able to receive justice for what happened. It’s all part of my story and it’s only going to make me better. I look to enjoy this time with my family and friends and see what’s next.
“I’m a clean athlete and boxing is a brutal sport where one fight can literally change your life. I think it important for fighters to be clean and I want to become an advocate for clean athletes for my experience in this situation.”
Ostarine is an anabolic agent regarded as a safer alternative to steroids which appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2024 Prohibited List.
The 25-year-old Garcia scored three knockdowns of Haney and handed the WBC super lightweight champion the first defeat of his professional career in a dramatic upset in April.
The scheduled 12-round encounter at the Barclays Center had been downgraded to a non-title bout when Garcia weighed in at 143.2lbs – 3.2lbs above the division limit – creating a situation where Garcia could no longer take Haney’s championship, only his unblemished professional record.
“The commission will continue to hold athletes to the highest professional standards and protect the integrity of all sports under our jurisdiction,” the commission said in a statement.
Though the suspension formally applies only to fights in New York state, athletic commissions have typically abided by rulings in other jurisdictions for several decades.
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that has been on Wada’s banned list since 2008. Amir Khan was hit with a ban from all sport for two years after he was found guilty of having it in his system on the night of his 2022 fight with Kell Brook.
By Bryan Armen Graham