Ryan Garcia’s Settlement: A Deeper Look At PEDs, Weight Bullying, And Boxing Fandom

Word is out that Garcia has reached a settlement with the New York State Athletic Commission regarding his recent failed drug tests. For anyone interested in the facts, the settlement is rather one-sided.

Not only will the results of his bout with Haney be officially changed to a no-contest, but Garcia will forfeit $1.1 million of his purse, pay a $10,000 fine, and serve a one-year suspension from the sport. Garcia returned two positive samples for the banned substance Ostarine, which can be used to improve muscle mass, even in conditions where one is cutting weight, such as prior to a fight.

Additionally, Ostarine must be used in cycles like similar anabolic drugs. This is significant because one of the leading excuses from Garcia’s fans, and even his camp, is that there was a minuscule amount of the drug found in his system, and therefore, he must have been the victim of tampering. Finding evidence of PED usage in such small amounts is not uncommon, as one of the primary reasons elite athletes are caught is because they simply timed their cycle wrong. They believed their system would be clear of any evidence of wrongdoing and confidently submitted a sample.

Another of the more common, and frankly, more baffling defenses that Garcia’s fans will employ is that neither Ostarine nor the extra weight was what led to Haney being caught by so many left hooks. Nobody would argue that Haney was caught with too many left hooks, and Garcia is known to have a terrific left hook. But now we have to question whether they landed to such brutal effect because of his pure natural ability or his natural ability in addition to the extra weight and muscle mass achieved by using a banned substance. This is not hard. A professional boxer with extra muscle mass who has not gone through the rigors of cutting weight has a clear advantage over an opponent who has not used banned substances and who did go through a weight cut.

To say that an unfair advantage in muscle mass and weight does not translate in any way to a performance in a contest where two people are slinging limbs at each other is either disingenuous or tragically uninformed. If this is the case, why not do away with weight classes altogether? Why not allow all performance-enhancing drugs while we’re at it and see what Inoue can do against Canelo? The answer is that these things do matter, and the long-term well-being of fighters is what is on the line.

Imagine for a second that when Antonio Margarito was caught loading his gloves, and people reflected on his victory over Miguel Cotto, a subset of boxing fans would have gone out publicly and stated, “plaster in his gloves isn’t the reason he landed so many punches on Cotto.” While technically true, having a decidedly unfair advantage in damage output per punch means Cotto was being broken down faster than anyone could have anticipated. It means that as his face swelled and blood began to flow, it was harder for him to see the punches coming, and it means that in the end, Margarito’s win didn’t mean much.

Another factor to consider is that having an unfair weight advantage, especially when the added weight is muscle weight, gives a fighter a boost in their ability to absorb punches. One would be hard-pressed to find a concurring opinion that Haney is a power puncher. But he has typically had enough sting to keep opponents honest. When the lack of firepower from Haney is factored in with the fact that Garcia was well overweight and bolstered by an anabolic agent, Haney never had a chance of putting a dent in him, thus allowing Garcia to really rip with hooks without the fear of being damaged by return fire.

Surprisingly, Garcia’s claims of tampering seem to have fallen on mostly deaf ears from both sides, but perhaps more surprising is that this is because his supporters have skipped straight over this possibility to defend PED usage and weight bullying. Garcia has also claimed that he was unaware that he’d consumed the substance, but let’s not forget that this is a man who has been absolutely maniacal all year. And yet, there were initial voices of support pertaining to this claim. It raises the question: is there any such thing as an unreliable narrator in the eyes of Garcia’s fans? Does the truth even matter?

Lastly, this speaks largely to the current state of boxing fandom as a whole. This is a sport that is quickly becoming consumed by the voices of people who call every loss suffered by the fighter they were backing a robbery. By people who believe that you must drag one fighter’s accomplishments to boost another fighter’s. By people who believe they know the entire story of a fight because they watched a thirty-second highlight video. By people who believe that race plays a factor in a fighter’s ability. These tendencies aren’t, on their own, a cause for great concern. But it is these same people who happen to be the loudest. Who adamantly support fighters who do not concern themselves with fairness or the sustainability of the sport. I suspect that, if anything, this article will galvanize Garcia’s fans and lead to even more heel-digging and finger-pointing. So, to them I ask: If cheating to win is acceptable, then what is the point of a contest? If one person is bound to rules in combat that another brazenly defies, are we watching a sport, or are we complicit in its devaluation?

The rules make the sport, and when the rules only apply to one competitor in a bout, what you have is unconsented violence, not a boxing match.