Ryan Garcia will be out for a year following the New York State Athletic’s (NYSAC) suspension that will last until April 20th, 2025. The decision was made during a hearing that the NYSAC held yesterday [June 20th] to decide Garcia’s form of punishment following his two failed drug tests.

BoxingScene reported that the NYSAC further decreed that Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KO’s) must return his $1.2 million of his guaranteed purse to his own promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, who organized the April 20th event that saw Garcia defeat Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KO’s) by majority decision (MD) in a one-sided beatdown.

In regards to Garcia’s win, that has now been overturned to a no-contest; reverting both fighters records to what they had been prior to entering the ring. Haney had previously appealed the NYSAC to rule his match against Garcia as a victory, but this request has not been fulfilled. Haney will, however, be once more considered an undefeated fighter.

Garcia has also been fined $10,000 that will be owed to the NYSAC. While the suspension that has been imposed on Ryan Garcia will purportedly remain until April 20th next year, the suspension is formally ruled to be an “indefinite suspension” as Garcia will be subjected to random drug testing throughout this period.

The suspension, fine, recompense towards Golden Boy and drug testing that Garcia has been met with are purportedly part of a settlement his lawyers reached with the NYSAC,, suggesting there had been even steeper repercussions waiting for Garcia. The relative “hush hush” nature of the hearing itself―with the date first speculated to be taking place on Friday rather than Thursday―has omitted quite a few important details.

Notably, the NYSAC did not mention whether their sentence was based on the assertion that Ryan Garcia had used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) on purpose, or whether they believed his lawyer’s claims of his supplements being contaminated.

The lack of clarification by the NYSAC has spurred Garcia’s team to maintain their narrative of Garcia’s supplements having been contaminated as they stated in a press release released shortly after the news of Garcia’s punishment[s].

“Ryan Garcia was a victim of substance contamination, with levels measured in the billions and trillions of a gram, which provided no advantage whatsoever in the ring,” Garcia’s public letter stated, “Ryan, with his legal team, has resolved this issue and firmly maintains his truth: he never intentionally took any banned substance. It’s simply not in his nature.

“For many years, Ryan has voluntarily submitted to random drug [testing], even during out-of-competition periods, and has never had any issues. He has maintained an impeccable and clean record throughout his career, significantly elevating and transcending the sport of boxing, earning respect and admiration from millions of fans worldwide.

“The fans will always remember his performance against [Devin] Haney as a masterclass, and that will never be erased. Ryan will continue to elevate and will be actively involved in advocating for reform. We hope future changes in our system will address issues like this one.“

The letter by Ryan Garcia’s team, which blatantly avoids any form of culpability, fails to mention that it had been on Garcia to prove his innocence; something he not only failed in but further sparked doubts as to his innocence by sending in unsealed, and allegedly tampered with supplements, to a drug testing lab in a [unsuccessful] bid to prove his innocence. In that regard, Garcia’s team has proven to be disingenuous, blatantly misconstruing the facts.

Another claim they made, of Garcia testing in the billions and trillions of a gram, almost egregiously ignores the fact he tested 60 times over the limit that was allowed for the banned substance of Ostarine he tested positive for.

The continuing assertions by Garcia’s team that he did not intentionally take PEDs can be construed as a missed opportunity by the NYSAC to send a message to PED-users, as there are no real repercussions to their “strict liability”¹ stance other than a $10,000 fine and a suspension twice as long as the usual 6-month suspensions that fighters are typically slammed with for failing drug tests.

What can be observed from this case is that the NYSAC is unable to draw an actual line in regards to positive drug tests, failing to definitively deter PED-use by not handing Garcia a harsher sentence when taken into account his behavior leading up to this sentence; particularly his action to send in unsealed supplements to a well-accredited drug testing lab.

Garcia’s own response to this news is evident of the NYSAC’s failure in this regard, as he has continued to send out several mixed messages that allows him to continue to maintain the façade of innocence―despite failing to prove as such―while still displaying a level of immaturity that reflects the lack of any real consequences he will face.

“Y’all may catch me out and about but as far as boxing I don’t know,” Garcia stated on Twitter/X prior to his suspension, “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 boxing Praying for everyone and I hope everyone has a great life.“

Several other posts were made by Garcia following the NYSAC’s sentencing where he continued to claim to have fallen victim to a conspiracy.

“I was already retired so I’ll just come back out of retirement for a year,” Garcia claimed in one post.

In another, he maintained his innocence once more; “Nothing that was in my system was enough for any!!!!!!! This is why I’m done with the game I never F’ing cheated. F YOU.“

And subsequent posts saw Garcia continue in the same vein while also racking up new creative responses where he proclaimed boxing to be dead, claimed to be going to the UFC, demanding Devin Haney to return his money for the match being ruled a no-contest only to afterwards apologize.

The erratic behavior of Ryan Garcia seems to continue to persist, as well as the assumption that the sentence came due to the contaminated supplements. In retrospect, it verifies that the NYSAC’s sentence has been mild, and no true victory has been gained by any party following months of controversy and drama surrounding Garcia’s positive drug test[s].

1. a stance by a sanctioning or governing body dictating that combatants are held fully responsible for what they put in their bodies and will be required to prove their innocence upon testing positive for PEDs ↩︎