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Devin Haney’s promoter Eddie Hearn has claimed the fighter wants his loss to Ryan Garcia last month to be declared a no-contest after Garcia failed a drug test.
Garcia tested positive for ostarine, a banned substance, in two of his drug tests prior to his victory over Haney on April 20. Garcia dropped Haney three times on his way to a majority victory, but his win was already under criticism after he weighed in three pounds over the agreed 140-pound limit.
Hearn told “The Stomping Ground” YouTube channel that Haney is furious with Garcia and will want the fight to be declared a no-contest: “I spoke to Devin Haney last night,” said Hearn. “In his mind, he’s absolutely furious. [Garcia] came in three and a half pounds overweight and had performance-enhancing drugs in his system. [Haney] will want the contest to be an immediate no-contest, for that to be scrubbed off the card, but we will see what happens.
“Regardless of Ryan’s innocence or guilt in the situation, he had performance-enhancing drugs in his system when he fought Devin Haney, and he came in three and a half pounds over. If you’re Devin Haney right now, you’re thinking, ‘F*** me, I’ve been screwed.’”
Hearn is all too familiar with the process of fighters clearing their name following testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, after his fighters Conor Benn and Dillian Whyte both failed tests for their respective fights against Chris Eubank Jr. and Anthony Joshua.
He now believes that testing times are coming for Garcia and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya if they are to prove that he is innocent.
“The facts are, [Garcia] had performance-enhancing drugs in his system when he fought Devin Haney,” added Hearn. “Now, how they got there is over to him and Golden Boy. For two years I’ve had these questions about Conor Benn, and Conor Benn was in a boat where he had to go through three hearings, go through so many processes, and I tell you what, I hope that Ryan and Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy have the resilience to deal with what is coming.
“He has got to go out now and prove to the New York State Athletic Commission that he somehow didn’t know that this was being ingested, or how it was ingested, or how it was contaminated. You won’t get it from me, because I believe everyone deserves an opportunity to have that hearing. But right now, and this is how boxing works, you are guilty until you’re proven innocent.”