09 May

Hearn Discusses Possible Punishment Ryan Garcia Might Face

Promoter and head of Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn discussed the potential punishment awaiting American junior welterweight Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs).

"Devin Haney wants Ryan to be disqualified from the fight. Honestly, I don't understand how you can award a victory to a fighter if he didn't earn it, but that's not really important right now. There's no doubt the fight will be declared a no-contest. He still entered the ring with a banned substance in his system.

It's tough for Ryan because he has to go through this process now, and that's why he's consulted with lawyers. Sample B, as we know, will have the same result unless there was contamination in the lab, which can happen but is very, very unlikely.

But when he says he was buzzed when he entered the ring, smoking weed all day, drinking all week, you have to be careful because at some point you have to present all the facts to the New York State Athletic Commission, and they will decide on this matter.

Sometimes fighters don't understand that I won't be making decisions about this, Golden Boy won't, DAZN won't, VADA won't. The decision will be made by the New York State Athletic Commission. They will get all the facts, and then based on that, they will probably decide, and likely, the decision will be a six-month or a year suspension, and the fight will be declared no-contest," said Hearn.

On the night of April 21, Ryan Garcia won by majority decision against Devin Haney. Despite the loss, Devin remains the WBC champion since Ryan did not make the weight limit and was not eligible for the title.

Later, it was revealed that Garcia had failed doping tests taken the day before his fight against Haney, but according to insider Dan Rafael, the presence of one of the banned substances in the fighter's sample was not confirmed. The samples will be retested on May 22.

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