Devin Haney has restored his unbeaten record, but he’s still not happy with Ryan Garcia’s situation.
When Haney and Garcia stepped into the ring to face off in April of this year, Garcia initially emerged with an exciting majority decision victory, but the bout will forever be shrouded in controversy, both for the circumstances before and after.
Garcia's erratic behavior prior to the fight, including odd social media behavior and weighing in 3.2 pounds over the bout's weight limit, disqualified him from competing in Haney's super lightweight title hunt. Although he defeated Haney in the bout, the bout was officially declared a no contest as part of a penalty handed down by the New York State Athletic Commission after Garcia failed two post-fight drug tests. Garcia was also suspended from boxing for one year.
If it were up to Haney, Garcia might not be allowed back at all.
“I don't think there should be any cheating in the sport of boxing,” Haney said. MMA Hour“If I feel that way, then shit, I'm cheating. If you're caught cheating, I think you should be banned for life because we're literally fighting for our lives every time we step in the ring and we're watching people get killed in the ring.
“He must have sensed something. He's never cheated in any of his previous matches, but with me. It wasn't a coincidence. He must have clearly felt threatened by me, and all of a sudden he did something I'd never seen him do before. He was trying to clean up his ass and play the crazy guy in case he lost.”
Since news of Garcia's positive drug test broke on May 1, his team has maintained that he was the victim of a tainted supplement. In a statement, the team said two supplement samples tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency “tested positive for ostarine contamination” and that Garcia is innocent. Garcia responded to the suspension by hinting at a UFC return, following his previous retirement tweet.
Garcia's antics aren't funny to Haney in the slightest, and he has no plans to end the feud with his rival, despite Garcia claiming to have reached out to him.
“He's messaging me on Instagram, trying to be cool,” Haney said. “I don't know, we all know it's weird that he thinks it's cool to message me. That's not what's going on. I want to make him pay for what he's done, what he's done in and out of the ring.”
With the April 20 bout officially declared a no contest, Haney's record dropped to 31-0. Haney is currently on a self-imposed hiatus and recently tweeted that he may not fight until 2026, which could lead to a rematch with Garcia later that year.
First, Haney plans to sue Garcia for entering the fight with the intent to rig the system.
“Like I said, this has cost me,” Haney said. “I signed a fair fight. I signed a contract for a fair fight where we would be drug tested and we would go into the fight and know I was clean and he was clean, and that wasn't the case. So like I said, he's got to pay the price. When we signed the contract, we said he was going to be clean before he went into the fight, I was clean, but there's nothing left in my system, there's nothing left in his system. He didn't keep his word. He didn't keep his word on his end, so he's going to pay.”
“He will get his revenge in the ring. I want my revenge in the ring with my blood, but I want it outside the ring too. At the end of the day I'm a businessman and this is a business.”
