Ryan Garcia will now have to face the New York State Athletic Commission after a B-sample for his initial failed doping tests has returned the same result.
The 25-year-old’s win over Devin Haney as an underdog looks great on paper, but the fight was shrouded in controversy from a bizarre and sometimes troubling build-up, Garcia missing weight by 3 pounds and, now, news of failed tests for banned substance Ostarine on the days before and after the bout.
With news that the B-sample does not exonerate him, the fighter’s legal team has now issued the following statement:
“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 these factors, combined with his ultra-low levels from samples taken on April 19th and 20th (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.”
