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Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
Ryan Garcia was suspended a year after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug ostarine – retroactive to his April 20 majority decision victory over Devin Haney, which was overturned without challenge – after the star boxing has reached an agreement. with the New York State Athletic Commission, the commission told ESPN on Thursday.
Garcia, 25, also lost her purse, the commission said. Garcia’s disclosed purse was $1.2 million, sources said, which he will forgo even though his guaranteed earnings were millions more. The commission said it also fined Garcia $10,000.
Garcia (24-1-1NC, 20 KO) defeated Haney three times during the fight, in rounds 7, 10 and 11. Garcia was ineligible to win Haney’s WBC junior welterweight title and now Garcia will be out for at least a year. Garcia’s attorney, Paul Greene, told ESPN last month that he was hoping for a suspension of four months or less.
“All I prefer is I’d rather tell the truth than try to fabricate it with a lie because lies don’t stick,” Garcia told ESPN last month before the B sample does not become positive again. “So if I actually took ostarine, I would be like, ‘Honestly, I was going through a weird situation. I wasn’t really confident. I chose to take it. I’m sorry. “And that’s it. But I didn’t do it and I hate cheating… All I can say is legal team, help me figure this out.”
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association administered the doping tests, but it does not issue sanctions. It depended on the New York State Athletic Commission, under whose rules the fight was held.
Garcia and Haney signed up for VADA testing before their fight, meaning both boxers were randomly tested multiple times before their fight. Athletes are required to submit locator forms so collectors can find them anywhere.
“Who got caught for doping and admitted it?” Haney said last month on “SportsCenter.” “I think he would have been the first in history.”
Haney was as much as a -900 favorite, according to ESPN BET, before entering the ring at -575 after Garcia was 3.2 pounds overweight. Haney was ESPN’s No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer, a skilled fighter who was the undisputed lightweight champion.
Haney (31-0-1NC, 15 KO) had never been on the canvas in 31 professional fights before facing Garcia. One judge scored the fight a tie, 112-112, but it was overturned by the scorecards 114-110 and 115-109 for Garcia.
Now that Garcia is suspended for a year, what happens next?
Why was Garcia suspended for a year?
Garcia avoided a hearing with the commission and instead agreed to a one-year suspension, a harsh sanction that will keep the star boxer from competing until April 20, 2025. Garcia has already lost $600,000 to Haney after missing of weight and will now lose an additional $1,210,000. bringing the total to $1,821,000.
“It’s a harsh result,” Haney’s lawyer, Pat English, told ESPN. English, who has been in boxing for more than 40 years, has treated numerous cases of PED. “I’ve never seen a forfeiture of $1.2 million or anything close to it.”
With such a high-profile and closely watched case, the commission surely felt a responsibility to impose harsh sanctions and demonstrate that it was not favoring a star boxer. He did just that by imposing a costly penalty that he hopes will deter the use of PEDs in the future.
When Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest star, was suspended for six months in 2018 for the banned substance clenbuterol, the short duration drew criticism. After all, most boxers at this level only compete twice a year anyway.
Garcia fought twice last year, a knockout loss to Gervonta “Tank” Davis in April and a knockout win over Oscar Duarte in December.
What was Garcia’s defense?
According to New York State Athletic Commission rules, when a fighter tests positive for a banned substance, they have the “right to a fair trial” where “the onus is on the athlete to present evidence that refute the presumption of doping. “
The commission adheres to “strict liability” when it comes to doping.
“The fighter is responsible for everything he puts into his body,” the rules state. “If the fighter takes supplements and tests positive, that’s their responsibility.
“The fighter should be aware that the supplement industry is poorly regulated and studies have shown that some supplements are contaminated with steroids. If a banned substance is detected in the fighter’s sample — even if it was not not intentional — this will result in a violation of NYSAC rules.”
Garcia claimed exactly that: complete the contamination. However, it doesn’t matter how the banned substance — in this case, ostarine — got into Garcia’s system. This is still a violation of the rules.
Ostarine was found in Garcia’s A sample following a urine test on April 19 (the day before the fight) and April 20. Sample B later tested positive as well.
Greene acknowledged a “negligent component” to Garcia’s actions, but maintained there was an “innocent state of mind.” In other words, Garcia’s team did not dispute that an anti-doping rule violation occurred.
“We understand that Ryan is going to be subject to sanctions,” said Greene, a founding partner of Global Sports Advocates, which represented UFC stars Jon Jones and Sean O’Malley in doping cases. However, Greene also expected the punishment to be “at the lower end of how they determine these cases.”
Garcia submitted drug control forms alongside these urine tests where he was required to list all the supplements he was taking. Two of them — raspberry-lemonade-flavored NutraBio SuperCarb and BodyHealth’s strawberry-flavored amino acid blend — were later found to contain ostarine, according to laboratory tests.
However, the supplements that Garcia’s team submitted to the lab were not sealed. NutraBio rejected Garcia’s contamination allegation on June 14.
“NutraBio has never manufactured a supplement containing ostarine and has never introduced ostarine into our manufacturing facility for use in a product,” the statement said. “…Making defamatory statements about our product and brand that rely on the results of tests performed on an unsealed, expired container handled by the accused has no credibility.
“Additionally, the minuscule amount of ostarine allegedly detected in the opened container of SuperCarb does not explain the amount of ostarine identified in Ryan Garcia’s urine, which, at 6 ng/ml, is 60 times the test limit.”
Victor Conte, who works with Haney as a sports nutritionist and performance advisor, told ESPN that “the test results simply cannot be authenticated because there is no chain of custody.”
“Why do they test powders from unsealed supplement containers? said Conte, the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, who served prison time after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute performance-enhancing drugs.
“In my opinion it seems likely that tampering may be involved. Testing product samples from sealed containers with the same manufacturing numbers is the place to start if the results are to be considered credible .”
Can Garcia fight outside of New York while suspended?
The Association of Boxing Commissions (virtually all major sporting commissions in the United States) will honor any suspension of a commission from this group.
“I know I will find a way to fight,” Garcia told ESPN last month. “If I have to go fight in another country, I will. … I just want to be in the ring. I’m in my prime. I feel good. I feel strong.”
This is precisely what Garcia will have to do, although the most important international commissions will probably recognize the ban. Surely he can find a country where he can fight, given his star power and the business he generates.
However, NYSAC could still impose additional sanctions in this case.
How does ostarine improve performance?
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that binds to proteins in the body and effectively signals muscle growth. It improves performance by helping athletes build muscle mass, improve their rate of fat loss, increase their endurance and recovery capacity.
Ostarine has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list since 2008 and was listed in 2022 as an anabolic agent by WADA.
“At a fight camp, athletes will mainly lose a lot of kilos in order to be able to reach the agreed weight category before their fight,” Conte told ESPN. “Ostarine can also be used during the weight loss phase. During the weight loss period, people often resort to strict diets, mostly missing conventional calorie intake.
“Ostarine has the ability to maintain both muscle strength and mass when in a calorie deficit. It has proven to be the ideal product for body enhancement cycles where you aim to build muscle mass while reducing excess fat.”
Ostarine is banned by the commission at levels above 0.1 ng/ml. Conte published on X last month that Garcia’s ostarine level was 6 ng/ml, or 60 times the allowed threshold.
Has Ostarine been linked to any other notable fighters?
British boxing star Amir Khan was handed a two-year ban by UK Anti-Doping after testing positive for ostarine following his sixth-round TKO defeat to Kell Brook in Manchester in February 2022. Khan has not competed since.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended O’Malley for six months after he tested positive for ostarine in May 2018. He was suspended for nine months the following year when ostarine was tested positive again. found in his system.
All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins tested positive for ostarine in 2022. Former Pro Bowl offensive tackle Taylor Lewan also tested positive for the same substance in 2019, as did several Clemson players before the half. College Football Playoff final against Notre Dame in 2018.