Ryan Garcia enrolls in VADA drug testing
Jan 30, 2025 • 12:00 PM ET
LAS VEGAS – Ryan Garcia has officially enrolled in the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association drug-testing protocol, a step seen as the final one toward a planned three-fight series that will include his return to the ring in May and a rematch with bitter rival Devin Haney in October.
Southern California’s Garcia, 24-1 (20 KOs), will additionally participate in a drug-testing program supervised by the California State Athletic Commission, according to the fighter’s manager, Guadalupe Valencia.
Garcia, 26, is currently serving a one-year suspension from the New York State Athletic Commission after submitting three positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug Ostarine, which forced his April 20 three-knockdown majority decision victory over two-division champion Haney, 31-0 (15 KOs), to be altered to a no-contest.
“Ryan has always been a clean fighter. He was the victim of contaminated supplements,” Valencia told BoxingScene in a Thursday morning text message. “The level of contamination had zero benefit to him, as our experts have opined. Those are the facts. He had tested all of his career with clean results, and that will continue to be the case.”
Haney and his father-trainer-manager, Bill Haney, have mandated Garcia’s enrollment in VADA as a condition of their rematch, which is planned as a Saudi Arabia Riyadh Season event in October.
Before that, Garcia will headline a planned early May card in New York in a welterweight fight against former WBA light-welterweight champion Rolly Romero with Haney scheduled to fight former unified 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez on the same card in a welterweight bout.
Garcia has questioned why VADA testing is necessary, expressing discomfort in the relationship between Haney conditioning supervisor and former BALCO mastermind Victor Conte and Las Vegas-based VADA.
Yet, Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh routinely employs VADA for his fight cards, including the upcoming Feb. 22 card that includes title fights in the heavyweight, light-heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight divisions.
With Garcia also committed to a third fight for Alalshikh in early 2026, VADA’s random and stringent testing program will continue throughout these three cards.
California commissioner Andy Foster said: "The California Commission has total confidence in the VADA Program and utilizes VADA services on a regular basis. The additional drug testing of Ryan Garcia in no way should discredit VADA. We are testing to provide additional information to clear his suspension."
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
