Ryan Garcia has reportedly tested positive for Ostarine.
As first reported by Dan Rafael, Garcia, who stunned the boxing world with an electric win over Devin Haney just eleven days ago, produced two positive VADA tests for the banned substance, the first of which came on the 19th and the second on the 20th of April.
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) and can be used to boost muscle mass, aid weight loss and improve athletic performance. It is banned both in and out of competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). For reference, Britain’s Amir Khan received a two-year ban after producing a positive UKAD test for Ostarine following his March 2022 loss to Kell Brook.
BREAKING: Per multiple sources with knowledge of the results, Ryan Garcia tested positive for the banned PED Ostarine in a VADA test related to the Haney fight. #boxing
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) May 2, 2024
The news comes as a hammer blow for the 25-year-old, who caused a stir with a string of bizarre antics in the build-up to the Haney fight, before producing a seemingly too-good-to-be-true display of power-punching to inflict a first professional defeat on his former amateur foe.
Garcia has, predictably, been quick to deny the allegations on his X (Twitter) account, making a series of posts alleging foul play, while also protesting his innocence and identifying Ashwagandha Root, a herbal supplement to aid stress, as a potential cause for the positive tests.
My bad I shouldn’t have took this pic.twitter.com/WDgWkMMyOr
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) May 2, 2024
“What’s up everybody, I came on here to address this whole fucking shit claim that I cheated.” said Garcia to his 938.5k followers on X.
“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? Why would they let me step into the ring as a cheater and then come out with the victory and then they post this, you know? Again, um, these are people that are trying to attack me for whatever reason, but no weapon against me shall prosper.
“I’ve never taken a steroid in my- I don’t even know where to get steroids at the end of the day. I barely take supplements. They’re saying it’s coming from the Ashwagandha, that’s fuckin’ retarded so… lies… big lies… I beat his [Haney’s] ass, fuck outta here…”
Fake news like if I was Donald trump pic.twitter.com/PVg5EW7yLd
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) May 2, 2024
It has been reported that Garcia also tested positive for 19-Norandrosterone, a metabolite of the banned substance nandrolone, with further analysis pending.