Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) has taken to social media to respond to a report that he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Earlier on Wednesday, Dan Rafael reported that “King Ry” tested positive for ostarine in two urine tests on April 19 and post-fight on April 20. According to a letter from VADA, Garcia also “screened positive for but was not confirmed for 19-Norandrosterone pending IRMS analysis currently being run.” The report comes less than two weeks after Garcia won a shock majority decision against Devin Haney.
Ryan Garcia Responds to Positive Test for Banned PED
Ryan Garcia’s response
In a video posted onto his social media channels, Garcia was quick to deny any wrongdoing:
“I came on here to address this bull-fucking-shit claim that I cheated,” said Garcia. “Everybody knows that I don’t cheat. What can I say? Why didn’t they come out with this before the fight if they found it before? Why would they let me step into the ring as a cheater and then come out with a victory and then they post this?”
“Again, these are people that are trying to attack me for whatever reason but no weapon against me shall prosper. I’ve never taken a steroid in my — I don’t even know where to get steroids at the end of the day. I barely take supplements.”
Fake news like if I was Donald trump pic.twitter.com/PVg5EW7yLd
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) May 2, 2024
Golden Boy Promotions issue statement
Golden Boy Promotions, the company that promotes Garcia, also issued a statement about the reported drug test:
“Ryan has put out multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances — and we believe him. We are working with his team to determine how this finding came to be and will address this further once we conclude that process.”
Statement from WBC president
Mauricio Sulaimán, president of the WBC, took to X (formerly Twitter) to issue a statement of his own. His organization’s super lightweight title was at stake, but Garcia was unable to win the title against Haney due to missing weight. Below is what Sulaimán had to say:
“The WBC had [sic] received notification from @Vada_Testing about Ryan GarcÌa [sic] adverse findings on tests taken with connection to his fight against Haney. The due process begins immediately as per the WBC Clean Boxing Program Protocol. More information to follow.”
In a later post, Sulaimán clarified that the WBC had just received the notification and that they did not have prior knowledge of the test.
At present, it is unclear what action will be taken against the fighter. One possibility is that the win for Garcia is turned into a no-contest. The consequences of the positive test will become clearer in the days to come.