In a surprising turn of events, the B samples collected from Ryan Garcia before his fight against Devin Haney have tested positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The renowned boxing writer Dan Rafael reported the findings on Thursday.
“Ryan Garcia’s B sample results were returned Thursday a.m., 1 day after being opened,” Rafael posted on X. “I have the lab reports & the B samples, as expected, matched A samples — both are positive for the banned PED Ostarine related to VADA tests the day before & after Haney fight.”
Garcia’s unexpected victory over Haney on April 20, achieved via majority decision, had already sparked controversy after Garcia missed weight by 3.2 pounds. On May 1, his A samples tested positive for Ostarine, and now his B samples have confirmed these results.
Since the initial reports of his positive test, Garcia has maintained his innocence. Following the release of the B sample results, Garcia took to X to express his frustration in a series of posts that have since been deleted.
“Let’s go we positive. Positive vibes bruh. Yess so happy,” Garcia wrote (via MMA Mania). “I F***ING LOVE STEROIDS. I don’t care I’ll never make money again with boxing. Your loss not mine for setting me up lol joke’s on y’all. I will swallow all steroids.”
In response to these developments, Garcia’s legal team issued a statement reiterating his commitment to fair play.
“Ryan Garcia is committed to clean and fair competition and has never intentionally used any banned substance. Soon after being notified of his positive test, Ryan voluntarily had his hair collected and shipped to Dr. Pascal Kintz, the foremost expert in toxicology and hair-sample analysis. The results of Ryan’s hair sample came back negative. This is consistent with contamination and demonstrably proves that Ryan had not ingested Ostarine over a period of time — the only way he would have had any advantage whatsoever in the ring.
“Ryan has voluntarily submitted to tests throughout his career, which have always shown negative results. He also tested negative multiple times leading up to the fight against Haney. All of those factors, combined with his ultra-low levels from samples taken on April 19 and 20 (in the billionth of a gram range), point to Ryan being a victim of supplement contamination and never receiving any performance enhancing benefit from the microscopic amounts in his system. We are certain that one of the natural supplements Ryan was using in the lead up to the fight will prove to be contaminated and are in the process of testing the supplements to determine the exact source.”
This ongoing controversy continues to unfold as the boxing community awaits further developments regarding Garcia’s case and his future in the sport.
