Ryan Garcia Says He’s Never Used Steroids, While Boxer Responds By Reporting He’s Tested Positive Twice For Performance-Enhancing Drugs

CNN
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Boxer Ryan Garcia says he has never used steroids after ESPN reported he tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug ostarine twice – the day before and the day of his win over Devin Haney last month.

“Big lies, I beat him up,” Garcia said in an expletive-filled video on X – formerly Twitter. “Everyone knows I don’t cheat,” he said.

On Wednesday, ESPN reported that it had received a letter from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), detailing that the 25-year-old Garcia had submitted urine tests before the fight, but that the results were processed afterward.

Responding to the story, Garcia Posted – saying: “I’ve never used a steroid. … I don’t even know where to get steroids at the end of the day… I hardly take any supplements.”

Considered a poster boy for boxing, Garcia trained alongside the likes of Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez and Óscar Valdez, defeating Haney three times in a majority decision in front of a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. , on April 20.

Garcia had already missed the weight limit for the showdown, gaining three pounds.

Missing the weight limit for a world title fight is not unheard of, but it is rare – and it meant the 25-year-old was left without a chance to win the WBC super lightweight title, although the fight still went ahead.

Ostarine is the trademarked name for selective androgen receptor modulators known as SARMs, which are pharmaceutical drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone.

These compounds are often marketed to bodybuilders online as “legal steroids,” which can help them look leaner, more muscular and improve athletic performance. According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), it is not approved for human use or consumption in the US, or any other country.

According to USADA, it is “prohibited at all times under the S1 Anabolic Agent category of the WADA Prohibited List.”

Under New York State Commission rules, boxers “who fight in the state are required to undergo mandatory urine testing for examination of prohibited substances.”

A representative of the New York State Athletic Commission told CNN in a statement: “Safety, fairness and integrity in professional athletic competitions are essential. The Commission is in contact with VADA and is investigating the matter.”

CNN has reached out to representatives for Garcia, Haney and VADA for comment.

“It’s unfortunate that Ryan betrayed and disrespected both the fans and the sport of boxing by fighting dirty and being positive not once, but twice,” Haney said in a statement on Instagram Stories.

ESPN reported that the result of the fight could be overturned unless Garcia’s B sample comes back negative. Garcia has ten days to formally request that this second test be conducted.

“Ryan has made multiple statements denying that he knowingly used banned substances – and we believe him,” Golden Boy Promotions of Oscar De La Hoya, the agency representing Garcia, told ESPN in its statement.