Ryan Garcia vs. Devin Haney 2: Fighters Pause Legal Battle to Secure Anticipated Rematch

Ryan Garcia and Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney are so eager to secure a rematch that they have initiated negotiations even before the former’s one-year suspension concludes. Demonstrating their commitment, both fighters have also jointly requested a 90-day pause in legal proceedings to facilitate these discussions.

In September last year, ‘The Dream’ took their rivalry to the next level by doing something no one expected. Haney filed a lawsuit against Garcia in the U.S. District Court in New York City for battery, fraud, and breach of contract.

Haney argued that he had agreed to a fight under the rules, but since ‘KingRy’ failed the drug test, his use of PEDs made it an unfair fight. That was the reason behind the battery charge.

According to ESPN, the lawsuit states:

“While Devin Haney agreed to participate in a prize fight against Garcia, at no time did he agree to engage in a bout against an individual who had taken a performance-enhancing drug.”

Additionally, Haney alleged fraud. He thinks ‘KingRy’ did not make a sincere attempt to get to the right weight for the fight. The social media sensation weighed in at 143.2 pounds for a bout contested at 140 pounds for Haney’s WBC junior welterweight title.

After the weigh-in, ‘The Dream’ had to agree to a special deal for the fight to take place. It also meant Garcia couldn’t contest for the champ’s title. Garcia later admitted he missed weight intentionally.

Their fight was a brawl and Garcia came out on top, much to the surprise of many. Although ‘The Dream’ started the fight well, he had no answer for Garcia’s left hook that kept landing, knocking him down three times in the fight on his way to a majority decision loss.

However, the New York State Athletic Commission overturned this decision to a no-contest after ‘KingRy’ tested positive for Ostarine. Garcia faced a one-year suspension and a fine exceeding $1.2 million.

Despite the ban and the fine, Garcia has consistently denied knowingly ingesting any banned substances. At one point, he had even blamed his positive test on the Indian herb, Ashwagandha!

“Everybody knows that I don’t cheat. I’ve never taken a steroid in my life. I don’t even know where to get steroids, at the end of the day. I barely take supplements… Big lies, I beat his ass.”

While it seems that both fighters are moving on, at least for the time being, and working towards a rematch, Garcia is refusing to do any more testing with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).

Garcia accuses VADA of favoring the Haneys

The boxer has gone a step further and boldly claimed that the VADA is biased towards Haney and his team too much and questions their insistence on using the organization for all their testing. At the ‘Ring Awards’ a couple of nights ago, he asserted wanting to use an organization of his own choice for their rematch.

“We won’t be using VADA, I’ll be using the people I wanna use. For some reason Bill Haney keeps on saying VADA, VADA, VADA, VADA, VADA, it’s kinda strange to me. Why can’t I use USADA or any other organization, it seems a little fishy to me that they love VADA and VADA loves them. It’s just weird.”

Interestingly, it was VADA that had originally tested Garcia before his first fight against Haney and found him guilty of using a PED. This incident has left him skeptical of their processes and determined to avoid the agency in future drug testing.

As the rematch negotiations progress, resolving these testing disagreements will be critical for the fight to move forward.