Ryan Garcia claimed that he was ‘high as f***’ but not on steroids during his dominant upset over Devin Haney on April 20 at Barclays Center.
The 25-year-old’s claims came after he tested positive for the performance-enhancement substance Ostarine from drug tests conducted before and after the fight.
On Tuesday, Garcia continued to campaign for the falsehood of the test results in an appearance on the Fully Tilted Podcast with Bob Menery.
‘If I was on steroids, I would have been in way better shape,’ Garcia, who came in 3lbs overweight, claimed. ‘I was literally drinking every day, smoking weed – I did not stop, not even until the f****ng day of the fight. I got in there high as f***, and I beat his a**.’
‘It was a walk in the f***ing park,’ he continued. ‘I had harder fights in sparring, bruh. It was not hard at all. Even Devin was like: ‘I’ve never been outclassed that much, that easily.’ Bro, steroids did not help that, brother.’
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Ryan Garcia claimed he was ‘high as f***’ but not on steroids during his win over Devin Haney
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Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancement substance Ostarine after the fight
After the positive test results came out on May 1, Garcia requested that his B-sample be analyzed, according to a letter obtained by ESPN.
If Garcia’s request is granted but his B-sample still comes back positive, the Victorville native and his legal team must present their case to prove his innocence. Otherwise, he will face a suspension and a fine on top of his win over Haney getting overturned.
Ostarine was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2008 and listed as an anabolic agent in 2022. The New York State Athletic Commission told ESPN last week that it is ‘in communication with VADA and is reviewing the matter.’
‘Everybody knows that I don’t cheat,’ Garcia said in a video posted on X on May 1. ‘Never taken a steroid. I don’t even know where to get steroids. I barely take supplements.’
Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions released a statement, saying they are working with Garcia’s team to ‘determine how this finding came to be.’
Garcia floored Haney three times during the fight to score a majority decision and hand the champion his first loss. Despite dominating the scorecards, Garcia was ineligible for the WBC super-lightweight title on the line due to missing weight.
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After the positive test came out, Haney claimed Garcia put his life ‘in jeopardy’ by cheating
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Failure to prove his innocence would result in a fine, suspension, and overturn Garcia’s win
After Garcia claimed to be high during the fight, Haney took to X and wrote: ‘Doesn’t surprise me you had a drink & sum smoke you knew you were taking performance-enhancing drugs as well.. or maybe u ‘trolling’ again (Allegedly).’
‘U don’t test dirty twice on accident.. For two different things,’ he added.
After the positive test surfaced, Haney appeared on SportsCenter to combat Garcia’s claims about the results.
‘Whoever got caught doping and admitted it? I think [Garcia] would have been the first [athlete] in history,’ Haney said. ‘As of right now, it wouldn’t be a [rematch] that I would entertain. This guy showed his character. He showed that he would do anything to win, including cheat. He put my life in jeopardy. So now it’s deeper than boxing with me.’
