Ryan Garcia revealed that he uses Ostarine before and after his highly publicized fight against Devin Haney in April.

Did he do it to gain weight?

After a turbulent and dramatic build-up to the fight, this event triggered a series of negative events for Garcia and he is currently serving a one-year suspension from boxing due to the failed doping tests.

Garcia has always maintained his innocence and insisted that his positive test for ostrarine was due to a contaminated dietary supplement. This claim has never been confirmed and we may never know everything, as there may be aspects of the situation that are unclear to Garcia.

However, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who promotes Haney and Hall-of-Famer Andre Ward, spoke about the failed doping test in a recent episode of the boxer’s new podcast. The whole smoke fightHearn said he believed Garcia broke the rules to make weight, and Ward agreed.

“Look, I’ve had 50 positive doping tests in my career as a promoter at different fights,” Hearn said. “I know how it goes. With this one, it was like (makes a shocked face), you then research what it is and what the amounts are. One of the horrible things is it was the night before the fight and the night of the fight. You know it was categorically in his system the night of the fight. It didn’t go out 12 weeks ago, it was in him the night of the fight. If I’m honest, I’ve been through all those 50 cases and stuff like that. That would make me think it was related to the weight cut. I don’t think you take that the week of the fight if you’re cheating, doing a cycle or whatever in training camp. He says it was a contaminant. If it wasn’t a contamination, I think he’s taking it to try to make his weight for the fight.”

Ward shut down Hearns’ comments and chimed in. “That’s what I believe,” Ward agreed. “I stated it when it burst and when the test result came out.”

All fighters are familiar with doping and some aspects of the process, as it is unlikely that they have never seen fighters doping or at least been exposed to the concept. “You don’t start taking things the week before the fight or the night of the fight,” Ward continued.

“How he showed up in New York, how much weight he was overweight,” Ward continued. “I think someone said, ‘Take this,’ some diuretic. He took it without doing his research, and then it blew. And he’s responsible for it. It’s just what it is.” Here’s a look at the segment:

Hearn’s approach is understandable, but his attitude could also be an example of planning for the long term.

There is a certain level of shame when a fighter takes a PED. However, it feels worse and more reckless when it appears that the fighter was trying to gain an advantage in the right. While it is still unsavory, it doesn’t feel as despicable to take a PED to make weight.

It’s likely that Hearn knows this, and since there’s a good chance we could see a mega-money rematch between Haney and Garcia in 2025, perhaps there’s some interest in taking some of the pressure off the latter. Perhaps that’s why Haney contacted X to respond and ask why Garcia still hasn’t made weight if that was his motive for cheating.

In any case, Hearn and Ward’s approach and reasoning are logical, but I can also understand Haney’s skepticism.

There is hope that Garcia has put that part of his life in and out of the ring behind him and can return to the sport more fully than he did last year.