Devin Haney has requested that the New York State Athletic Commission disqualify Ryan Garcia following his April 20 majority decision triumph in a bout later stained by Garcia’s positive test result for a banned performance-enhancing substance.
Haney attorney Pat English, in an eight-page letter to the commission’s top two directors, its chief medical officer and lead attorney, offered precedent for the move and detailed why his request is justified.
Such a ruling would establish Haney as the winner of the bout – not just the participant in an event with no outcome. If disqualified, Garcia would receive a loss.
“There is a blemish on Mr. Haney’s record,” English wrote in the letter. “He was placed in an unsafe fight under NYSAC jurisdiction. The bout was made a mockery and in addition to the PED use and prohibited use of IV’s, after the bout, Mr. Garcia admitted that missing weight was a tactic to give him an unfair advantage.
“As there was no second-day weigh in required by the commission, thus it is impossible to know what he weighed on fight night. This is why, after setting forth the facts below we request that Mr. Garcia be disqualified, which is more fitting than a no-contest in this situation.”
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association reported earlier this month that Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine on both the day before and the day of the bout, a bombshell that capped erratic behavior by Garcia, 25, leading up to the fight before he weighed in more than three pounds over the 140-pound weight limit.
Garcia, who knocked down WBC lightweight champion Haney three times during the bout, has professed he never knowingly ingested a banned substance before the bout and has floated a conspiracy theory that his positive result was “an inside job,” meaning someone “tainted” his sample.
Garcia has requested testing of a “B” sample, and results are due by May 22.
The New York commission has not officially set a date to determine Garcia’s fate. The commission is also armed to fine and suspend Garcia.
By pushing New York to discipline Garcia beyond converting the outcome to a no-contest, attorney English wrote it has been done before in Olympic sports and in the case of boxer Lucian Bute when he tested positive for ostarine following a 2016 bout against Badou Jack in Washington, D.C.
Beyond reminding that performance-enhancing substance use is especially dangerous in the violent sport of boxing, English noted that both fighters vowed not to use such substances while agreeing to Olympic-style drug testing in their fight contracts while also signing a commission document in which they agreed they had not used a banned substance.
Haney, English wrote, relied on these protections before participating in the bout.
Haney later agreed to fight Garcia after the challenger weighed in well over the 140-pound limit, rendering the event a non-title bout for Garcia. Garcia told Haney he would pay him $1.5 million for coming in heavy.
“After the bout, Garcia stated publicly that he had lied and he was overweight in order to get a competitive advantage over Haney,” English wrote in his letter to the commission. “Had Garcia not lied about his purpose, Haney would not have proceeded with the bout against him and/or would have taken steps to protect himself.”
Garcia knocked down Haney in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds after rocking him in the first round with two hard left hooks to the head.
Haney has since reported that he was surprised by the power of Garcia’s punches.
English wrote, “Ostarine is sold on the black market for its performance enhancing properties. At no time did Devin Haney consent to engage in a bout against a boxer who was positive for a performance-enhancing drug, and would not have proceeded with the bout had he known. The New York State Athletic Commission would not have permitted the bout had it known of the positive finding.
“Representatives of Mr. Garcia have publicly suggested that the Ostarine was found in trace amounts. In fact, while there are a couple of Commissions in the United States which permit trace amounts of Ostarine [and New York, WADA and VADA are not among them], the samples quantities [were] 35 to 60 times the amount considered in those jurisdictions to be trace amounts.”
In his letter, English also attached a purported YouTube video of Garcia taking fluid with a “yellowish tinge” through an IV, writing, “IV’s are a well-known way to avoid positive drug tests as they dilute the urine.”
Among many claims Garcia has made before and after the bout, English seized on one in particular:
“Adding insult to the commission and to the sport of boxing, Mr. Garcia has alleged that he was ‘high as f*** during’ his bout with Mr. Haney. This very clearly brings disrepute on the sport of boxing and, by derivation, on the New York State Athletic Commission.”
In closing his remarks, English wrote, “Ostarine is specifically listed as a prohibited performance enhancing drug on the Commission website. An IV is expressly prohibited. Intentionally coming in overweight is a violation.
“In this context, the commission has full authority to issue a disqualification. That would change the bout to a win for Mr. Haney by disqualification. On behalf of Mr. Haney, we request that change in addition to such suspension as deemed appropriate by the commission.”