- Anti-doping body writes boxer on Ostarine test
- Given 10 days to request his B-sample test
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) has written to American professional boxer, Ryan Garcia over allegations of testing positive for the performance-enhancing anabolic agent Ostarine on the day before and the day after his surprise win over Devin Haney last month in Brooklyn.
According to VADA, a letter has been sent to both parties and if the 36-year-old Garcia’s failed drug tests are confirmed, it would likely result in a suspension and the overturning of the result to a no-contest.
Garcia has 10 days to request that his B-sample be tested. Garcia’s A-sample also reportedly screened positive for 19-norandrosterone, though its presence is being confirmed by carbon isotope ratio testing.
Ostarine is an anabolic agent considered a safer alternative to steroids which appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2024 Prohibited List.
The boxer, who was born on 8th August 1998 and held the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim lightweight title in 2021, has vehemently denied taking any illegal substances in a video posted to X on Wednesday night.
He wrote thus; “Fake news like if I was Donald Trump” — RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) May 2, 2024. “Everybody knows that I don’t cheat,” Garcia said. “… Never taken a steroid … I don’t even know where to get steroids. … I barely take supplements. Big lies, I beat his ass.”
Garcia scored three knockdowns of Haney and handed the WBC super lightweight champion the first defeat of his professional career in a dramatic upset on 20 April.
The scheduled 12-round encounter at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center had been downgraded to a non-title bout when Garcia weighed in at 143.2lbs – 3.2lbs above the division limit – creating a situation where Garcia could no longer take Haney’s championship, only his unblemished professional record.
Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that has been on Wada’ss banned list since 2008. Amir Khan was hit with a ban from all sports for two years after he was found guilty of having it in his system on the night of his 2022 fight with Kell Brook. – With agency reports
