Devin Haney Sues Ryan Garcia, Golden Boy For April 20 PEDs Debacle

Well, Devin Haney might not get any old school tough guy street cred for doing this, but he probably made the right life decision.

Haney and his legal team have filed a lawsuit against Ryan Garcia and Golden Boy Promotions, alleging battery, fraud, and unjust enrichment stemming from Haney’s controversial April 20 bout with Garcia.

In that widely-hyped bout, originally slated to be for Haney’s WBC junior welterweight title (but made a non-title bout after Garia failed to make the 140 lb. limit), Garcia would drop Haney three times en route to a points victory. Garcia would then, however, test positive for the banned substance ostarine.

The resulting punishment handed down by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) would see the outcome of the bout changed to a no contest, while Garcia was issued a one-year suspension and fined about $1.2 million (his reported purse for the bout).

Now, however, Team Haney hopes to add some punitive punishment to the state commission sanctions.

“At no time did Devin Haney consent to engage in a bout against a boxer who was positive for a performance-enhancing drug, performance enhancing-procedure or masking agent and would not have proceeded with the bout had he known,” Haney’s attorney Pat English stated in the 16-page suit filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York.

Haney’s team asserts that the punishment issued to Garcia by the NYSAC was insufficient, relative to the damage caused and the revenue awarded to Garcia for the fight. Garcia has bragged repeatedly about the reported $1.2 million purse being inconsequential to the amount he actually earned from the fight via pay-per-view points, sponsorships, and the boost to his social media earning power during the lead-in to the bout.

“Ryan Garcia additionally received millions of dollars to which he was not entitled,” the lawsuit says. “It is against equity and good conscience to permit Ryan Garcia to retain what is sought to be recovered in this action.”

The suit also targets Garcia’s failure to make weight and the subsequent revelation that he actually never even tried to make weight at all, something which could constitute fraud, even though, at the time, Haney’s team allowed for Garcia to come in 3.2 pounds over the limit in exchange for compensation.

Golden Boy, meanwhile, is named in the suit and accused of breach of contract by withholding funds due to Haney.

“Under the terms of that consent order, Ryan Garcia must return the (guaranteed, non-pay-per-view earnings) purse he has been paid to his promoter, Golden Boy. Devin Haney and Devin Haney Inc. are contractually entitled to 47% of all profits for the bout and is thus entitled to 47% of the funds required to be returned,” the suit argues. “Golden Boy has asserted that it will not share its extra profits from the bout as a result of the forfeiture ordered by the New York Athletic Commission. This constitutes a breach of contract by Golden Boy and /or and /or unjust enrichment to Golden Boy.”

Bill Haney, the father/trainer of Devin Haney had previously taken to social media, vowing to make Garcia “pay” for his transgressions.

“The clown Ryan Garcia whole boxing career is manufactured, Haney wrote via Twitter/X. “When that time came to become a champion he was scared and cheated. Keep talking punk but you will continue to pay for being a drug cheat. #AndStillUndefeated.”

Devin Haney will surely take some flak from boxing hardcore-types for settling matters in the courtroom rather than in the ring (although Bill Haney has said he’d be willing to book the rematch if the money was right and stringent anti-doping testing was implemented). However, in the big picture of real world justice, this lawsuit was absolutely the right thing to do.

In the often shady world of boxing, where there’s little sense of real justice and hustlers/liars/cheats frequently benefit from their grift, there has to be some degree of checking and balancing. And, as is almost always the case, those checks and balances have to come from the world outside of boxing.

As of this writing, Ryan Garcia’s response has been limited to a two-word Twitter/X statement: “No Words.”