Ryan Garcia has responded to claims made by former rival Devin Haney after his world title showdown with Mario Barrios.
‘King Ry’ achieved his career-long dream of becoming a world champion when he defeated Mario Barrios to capture the WBC welterweight title at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Garcia bounced back from what has been a difficult and controversial few years in his professional career, which included testing positive for a banned substance during fight week of his 2024 clash with three-weight world champion Haney.
‘King Ry’ actually defeated Haney via majority decision to hand his countryman the first defeat of his career on the night, but the result was later overturned and Garcia was subsequently handed a one-year suspension.
Speaking in the press conference after his victory over Barrios, Garcia responded to claims made by Haney that he has dropped out of voluntary drug testing during his career.
“Just look. You think I got an IV? Like bro, this is blood work.”
Garcia’s manager Guadalupe Valencia then followed up on what Garcia had to say as he claims ‘King Ry’ has never dropped out of VADA testing and Haney is looking for excuses as to why he was beaten by his former rival back in 2024.
“Let me answer that question. People say all kinds of nonsense but Ryan’s been doing testing his entire career. He’s fought for interim titles. We fought ‘Tank’ Davis, we were doing VADA testing and it wasn’t for a title. He’s been testing his entire career.
“Every single time we set up a fight, we sign a contract there’s VADA testing. There’s no such thing as dropping out of VADA testing so all those stories are just fabricated, people trying to hate on Ryan, and they’re just excuses for Haney to feel good about himself, you know, Haney wants to have an excuse as to why he got beat up and that’s it. So it’s all nonsense.”
Garcia has previously expressed an interest in facing Haney for a second time in what he says could prove to be one of the biggest fights of all time. It is a point hard to argue with now that both hold belts in the welterweight ranks.
