Ryan Garcia is currently suspended by the New York State Athletic Committee until April 2025.
That ruling came after a rollercoaster period in the sport for the 26-year-old, who had worried fans with erratic behaviour and outlandish rants ahead of his fight with Devin Haney.
Garcia then missed weight, meaning a deal had to be done for the event to go ahead and that he was not eligible to win Haney’s WBC Super-Lightweight World title. He did win the fight on the night, though, scoring three knockdowns on the way to a majority decision to hand Haney his first loss – at least for a while.
Following two doping tests – one the day before the fight and one the day of – showing banned substance Ostarine, the result was overturned to a no-contest, Garcia was fined and forced to sit on the sidelines for twelve months. He has maintained his innocence throughout the process. More recently, he was also ‘expelled’ by the WBC for using racist language.
As for Haney, he celebrated getting his undefeated record back but also said he may take a year out himself. He considered suing Garcia for loss of earnings and made the WBC aware that he would not be facing mandatory challenger Sandor Martin, instead being made Champion in Recess, effectively losing the belt.
He has now announced a ‘comeback’ on social media three months later, and has been backed by one of the most powerful people in the sport today, Turki Alalshikh.
I would say the come back.. but I never left.. see you soon brother 🤲🏽🔜 https://t.co/ugIfkiEdwA
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) August 14, 2024
One year isn’t a long time in the sport of boxing, especially when many of the top dogs and biggest stars often only fight once in that time, twice at a push. That means Garcia will be readying a comeback in just a few months, and it’s a rematch with Haney he has his sights set on.
He sent a message to Riyadh Season’s Alalshikh – who now works with the likes of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Terence Crawford, Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev – begging for the fight.
“We can set that up in riyadh if you would like Mr Turki, I will do all you ask including drug testing everyday. So please if you can make it happen.”
Haney has expressed interest in the rematch despite the fallout from the first fight.
