Ryan Garcia’s eventful spring continues.
The boxing superstar who scored an upset win over Devin Haney on April 20 only to have the victory tainted by positive tests for banned substances has had another major event impact his professional situation,
On Wednesday, May 8, longtime boxing insider Dan Rafael reported Garcia had been cleared of a potential positive drug test for the 19-Norandrosterone metabolite, which comes from a better-known banned substance called Nandrolone.
Per information from Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry, which Rafael referenced, the results were unconfirmed, leading to Garcia’s clearing. Garcia’s results for Nandrolone are now confirmed as negative.
Garcia took to X to proclaim his innocence after the news broke, but more is still to come.
Garcia’s attorney, Darin Chavez, has suggested the levels of Ostarine in his client’s system are proof that “we are dealing only with a known supplement contaminant in the billionth of a gram range that provided Ryan Garcia with no performance-enhancing benefit whatsoever on fight night,” per an ESPN report from Mike Coppinger.
The “billionth of a gram” measurement isn’t confirmed. Garcia has requested the testing of his B-sample, but those results won’t be known until May 22.
It is important to note that any amount of Ostarine in a fighter’s system is grounds for a positive test for a banned substance. However, many are focusing on the amount of Ostarine that will be confirmed or unconfirmed after the B-sample is revealed.
If the amount of Ostarine is at the picogram level, some believe that would support the notion that the failed test was the product of a contaminated supplement, and it isn’t likely to have provided Garcia with a competitive advantage against Haney on April 20.
Adam Catterall of Fight Disciples poo-poos that concept, at least to a degree.
Understandably, Haney doesn’t accept any of the concepts that suggest there should be any leniency for Ostarine being in his opponent’s system. He took to X to share his thoughts.
The saga continues, and barring a leak, we won’t have definitive news on the next steps until May 22, when Garcia’s B-sample returns, we receive analysis about the amount of Ostarine in his samples, and a professional’s take on the impact it might have had on the fighter’s performance on April 20.