Devin Haney released a statement after hearing PED claims against Ryan Garcia following his defeat to the Golden Boy star.
Haney, who was dropped three times and lost a majority decision in New York on April 20, has been disappointed in Garcia’s behavior since the news broke. “The Dream” sent out a reminder of the dangers boxers face each time they step inside the ropes.
“We learned about this situation not too long ago, and it’s unfortunate that Ryan cheated and disrespected both the fans and the sport of boxing by fighting dirty and breaking positive not once but twice,” Haney told ESPN.
“I’ve always been an advocate for clean fighting, and this is an example of such. Ryan owes the fans an apology, and by his recent tweet, he still thinks this is a joke.
“We put our lives on the line to entertain people for a living. You don’t play boxing. This puts the fight in a completely different light. Despite the disadvantage, I still fought on my shield and got back up!
“People die in this sport. This isn’t a joking matter.”
As Haney pointed out, Garcia continues to make light of the failures on social media. His latest offering was to rule out a rematch between the pair.
“Nah, I ain’t going to rematch him. I beat him easy, fair and square. I’d be damned if I rematch him,” said Garcia.
He added: “I’m [going to] find out who paid who to create this lie. The snakes will be exposed.”
However, many other names in the sport revealed their disgust at what had transpired.
Paulie Malignaggi wants the victory overturned.
“They should take away Ryan’s win. Plain and simple,” said the former world champion.
Golden Boy quickly stated that they believed Garcia and would be standing by their superstar fighter.
“Ryan has put out multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances — and we believe him. We are working with his team to determine how this finding came to be and will address this further once we conclude that process.”
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
