Haney sues Garcia for battery, fraud related to controversial fight
Former champion also names Golden Boy Promotions and a prominent strength and conditioning coach in federal lawsuit
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Devin Haney sued ring rival Ryan Garcia on Friday, accusing him of battery, fraud and unjust enrichment related to their controversial fight on April 20, after which Garcia tested positive for a banned substance, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Haney, the former undisputed lightweight world champion and former WBC junior welterweight titlist, also sued strength and conditioning coach Dave Honig for “aiding and abetting” Garcia as well as Garcia promoter Golden Boy Promotions for “breach of contract and/or unjust enrichment” for how Oscar De La Hoya’s company handled certain financial aspects of the DAZN PPV event.
Haney attorney Patrick English filed the 16-page lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by Fight Freaks Unite, seeking unspecified damages in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Garcia, 26, of Los Angeles, knocked Haney, 25, of Las Vegas, down three times with left hooks in the seventh, 10th and 11th rounds en route to an upset majority decision victory via scores of 115-109, 114-110 and 112-112 in a heavily hyped fight for which Garcia was not eligible to win the WBC’s 140-pound world title because he weighed in at 143.2 pounds, 3.2 pound over the division limit. Garcia said after the fact he missed weight on purpose to gain a competitive advantage.
Garcia’s win was eventually overturned to a no contest because he tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug Osterine in two Voluntary Anti-Doping Association tests (in both his A and B samples). One test was given the day before the fight and one on fight night.
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Garcia also tested positive for the substance in a sample collected by the New York State Athletic Commission, which eventually suspended Garcia for at least one year, fined him the maximum allowed of $10,000 and reached a settlement agreement with him under which he forfeited his entire $1.1 million official contract purse as punishment.
The main thrust of the suit is against Garcia, who Haney alleges committed battery against him because he was found to have used a banned substance in the bout as well taking fluid by using an illegal IV.
“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," the lawsuit said. “His consent was limited to a bout held fairly and under the rules. … The fighting (touching) by Garcia was non consensual. Devin Haney suffered damages in that he suffered physical injury, reputational damage which will amount to millions of dollars, and emotional and metal distress.”
Garcia responded to the lawsuit in a series of social media posts, including writing, “I’m being sued for doing my job.”
Ostarine, which has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list since 2008 and in 2022 was officially listed by WADA as an anabolic agent, is used to assist athletic performance by helping build muscle mass, burn fat, increase stamina and give the athlete the ability to recover quickly from strenuous work.
Haney’s fraud accusation was made because, according to the lawsuit, Garcia “represented that he had tried to make weight but had failed. Garcia knew that that Mr. Haney would rely upon those representations in agreeing to proceed with the bout. Those representations by Garcia were untrue and knowingly so. Devin Haney would never have fought against a boxer who was positive for a PED. Devin Haney suffered damages as a result of the misrepresentations of Ryan Garcia.”
The fight went on because Haney accepted financial considerations to go through with the bout despite Garcia being so overweight.
The lawsuit also disclosed that Haney paid “$300,000 for another boxer to ‘step aside’” to allow the fight to be for the WBC title. While the lawsuit does name the boxer, presumably it was WBC mandatory challenger Sandor Martin.
“This payment was unnecessary but for Mr. Garcia’s demand and representation that he wished to fight for the WBC title, a fraudulent demand as he later stated that he never intended to make weight, a requirement to fight for the WBC title,” the lawsuit stated.”
Haney alleges in the suit that Honig, a prominent New York strength and conditioning coach, and unnamed John Does “assisted Ryan Garcia in his doping scheme.”
“Ryan Garcia has publicly accused (Honig) of providing him supplements containing Osterine,” according to the suit.
Haney, who contractually was entitled to 47 percent of the profits from the fight, seeks a full accounting of the event from Golden Boy, which he accuses of keeping funds he is owed based on the New York commission’s settlement with Garcia that saw his $1.1 million returned to Golden Boy.
Haney contends that he owed 47 percent of that money.
“Under the terms of that consent order, Ryan Garcia must return the purse he has been paid to his promoter, Golden Boy,” the suit said, referring only to the base purse and not any pay-per-view upside Garcia was entitled to. “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 under the consent order after an agreed upon percentage profit for Golden Boy. … 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 unjust enrichment to Golden Boy.”
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Hopefully the courts give a punishment more fitting for a drug cheat than the laughable non punishment of a one year ban that the NY State Athletic Board gave Garcia. The message is loud and clear if your large money earning star you won't be punished but if your a boxer with no large promoter behind you who works but is still chasing the dream then you'll get a 4 year ban for some casual recreational drug use. Case in example Jai Opetaia's opponent Jack Massey got a 4 year ban for faint traces of a recreational drug. I could support that if it had been a PED but it was likely a little bit of cannabis then you see a Garcia who failed twice and clearly was taking drugs that would help him in his fight versus Haney. Its frankly a disgrace.
I don’t think Haney is going to recover from the Garcia fight instead of moving on and get his career back on track he is sueing