Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney recently advocated for stricter punishment for the “cheaters” like Ryan Garcia in the sport of boxing. The current WBC super lightweight champ appeared on the latest episode of ‘The MMA Hour’ where he strongly suggested that defaulters should be punished with a lifetime ban.
Haney endured a devastating defeat against Garcia in his previous in-ring encounter. However, subsequent drug tests revealed that Garcia had used the prohibited drug, ostarine, before their fight.
As a result, the NYSAC overturned Garcia’s victory against Haney to a ‘no-contest’ and suspended the 25-year-old from entering the ring for one whole year.
However, Haney isn’t too impressed by the lack of severity of the punishment. Anyone who dares cheat in the sport of boxing should be banished from entering the ring for a lifetime, ‘The Dream’ stated.
“I don’t think cheaters should be in the sport of boxing. If you are caught cheating, I think you should be banned, for life [forever].”
Devin Haney feels cheaters should be “banned for life” from boxing.
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Fans have been a little taken aback by Haney’s words about the degree of punishment he wanted but they weren’t the only ones.
‘The MMA Hour’ host, Ariel Helwani also seemed visibly surprised by the Victorville’s native’s opinion.
But Haney also presented a justification for his take and it’s a very good one.
Devin Haney wants to ensure the safety of boxers’ life
Taking prohibited PEDs is far from being the only form of cheating that can happen in boxing. Consider the unfortunate story of Florida-based boxer, Prichard Colón.
Colón fought Terrel William on 17 October 2015 while he was just 23 years old. Williams hit him with several unchecked back-of-the-head strikes, which are illegal in boxing. Colón’s corner sensed the deterioration of his condition due to those shots and decided to take his gloves off after the ninth round, and he lost the fight.
However, Colón collapsed after reaching the dressing room. He had to be hospitalized due to a subdural hematoma on the left side of his brain, due to which he went through a hemicraniectomy that sent him into a coma for 221 days.
The doctors did manage to save his life, but his current condition is utterly devastating.
Well, Haney may not have encountered a situation like Colón’s due to Garcia’s cheating but a look at the risks involved might have many fans siding with Haney’s call for a lifetime ban for the cheaters.