Ryan Garcia Defiant In The Face Of Ban: Vows To Continue Boxing Abroad

Ryan Garcia says he will find a way to continue boxing despite the New York State Athletic Commission’s one-year ban for his positive drug tests.

Considering how popular Garcia is, he could find a way to circumvent the New York State Athletic Commission’s ban. Along with the ban, Ryan has to surrender over $1 million. Being banned will cost Ryan a fortune, but losing a million will be hard to deal with.

Garcia’s Global Appeal Could Circumvent Ban

If Garcia is offered massive money to fight in the Middle East during the next ten months, it’s hard to see him turning it down. Almost any fighter would jump at the chance of fighting him in the Middle East for mega-bucks, and there’s not much any commission in the U.S could do to prevent that from happening.

“I know I will find a way to fight,” Ryan Garcia said recently to ESPN. “If I got to go to a different country to fight, I will. I just want to be in the ring. I’m in my prime. I feel good. I feel strong.”

While some commissions overseas might honor the New York Commission’s strict ban, it’s questionable whether the Middle East would, and that’s where the money is for Ryan Garcia and all fighters nowadays. Trying to keep a fighter from making a living is tough in this global community.

A Test for Regulatory Power

It is unclear whether the New York Commission would increase Ryan’s penalization if he chose to fight outside the U.S. One advantage that Ryan has is that he doesn’t care about fighting for world titles, so he could, in theory, continue to fight outside the country, leaving any U.S. commission helpless to stop him.

If this were a regular fighter with zero market value, a commission could stifle them and put them on the bench for however long they would like, but not for a superstar with the potential to fight in the Middle East and attract all the top names to face him.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) has a backdated ban, which will keep him out of the ring until April 20, 2025, next year.