PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE / JUNE 21, 2024: Ryan Garcia announced his retirement from boxing, one day before he was suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission due to his positive test for ostarine, a banned, performance-enhancing substance. The suspension runs through April 20, 2025, one year from the date of his fight against WBC junior welterweight champion Devin Haney. The news was broken by ESPN, who also reported that the result of Haney-Garcia was changed from a decision win for Garcia to a no contest. The ESPN report also said that Garcia, a social media star, will forfeit his entire reported purse for the fight, which was $1.2 million plus an additional $10,000 fine. However, Garcia likely made more than $1.2 million for fighting Haney in the form of a percentage of pay-per-view revenue.
On Wednesday night, the eve of the New York Athletic Commission hearing, the emotionally troubled Garcia threatened to retire, posting the following on social media: "I’m officially retired... Y'all may catch me out and about but as far as boxing, I don’t know. There is so much corruption I’m over it. I may do acting or singing . I’ll still be training but I’m hurt and done with it and everyone. The sad part is I’m a great boxer. And I entertain and knock people out. I’m sad bc I love boxing. Praying for everyone and I hope everyone has a great life... Forget I existed everyone."
After the news broke, however, Garcia tweeted, "I was already retired so I’ll just come back out of retirement for a year."
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Garcia tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance called Ostarine at the time of his upset win over Haney in April. The testing was administered by VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. The most disturbing aspect of the news is that Garcia dished out severe and possibly permament damage to Haney, who was knocked down three times and absorbed many hard punches to the head over the course of twelve rounds against the apparently enhanced Garcia.
In response to the news, Garcia initially posted an immature video on line saying, "Everybody knows that I don't cheat. What can I say? Why didn't they come out with this before the fight if they found it before the fight? Why would they let me step in the ring as a cheater and then come out with the victory and then they post this? Again, these are people that are trying to attack me for whatever reason. No weapon against me shall prosper. I've never taken steroids. I don't even know where to get steroids at the end of the day. I barely take supplements... Everybody go [party at] Warwick tonight, its lit!"
In May, Garcia said he unknowingly took two different tainted nutritional supplements, and purported to show proof in the form of tests on the supplements to ESPN through his legal representatives. ESPN reported the two accused supplements were Body Health Amino Acid Blend and NutraBio SuperCarb. On Friday, however, one of the supplement makers fired back at Garcia. NutraBio CEO Mark Glazier released the following statement regarding Garcia's allegations: “NutraBio categorically rejects the reckless claims made by professional boxer Ryan Garcia and his team that the NutraBio SuperCarb product caused Mr. Garcia’s positive test for Ostarine. Our company has consistently maintained a rigorous quality control process. NutraBio has never manufactured a supplement with Ostarine and has never brought Ostarine into our manufacturing facility for use in any product, ever. We have a long-standing commitment to producing the highest-quality supplements, trusted by athletes worldwide.
“A retain of the SuperCarb lot in question has been tested for Ostarine at ISO 17025 accredited laboratories by Eurofins and BSCG (Banned Substance Control Group), both of which are leading independent third party testing providers. The testing confirmed there was no Ostarine detected in the product.
“Any express or implied statements suggesting that our product contained Ostarine when it was sold are completely unfounded. Making defamatory statements about our product and brand that rely on test results done on an unsealed, expired container handled by the accused individual has no credibility.
“Further, the minuscule amount of Ostarine allegedly detected in the open container of SuperCarb does not explain the amount of Ostarine identified in Ryan Garcia’s urine, which at 6 ng/ml is 60 times the testing limit.
“We take any claims against our company extremely seriously and stand by our process for ensuring the quality, safety, and security of our products.”
