Devin Haney has put his integrity and his money where his mouth is.
The former fully unified lightweight champion has agreed to submit to the most consistent, comprehensive blood and urine testing administered by boxing’s most respected policing organization for performance-enhancing drugs. The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) announced Thursday afternoon that Haney has entered a program in which he can be tested for PEDs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and on any day of the year, not just when Haney is training for a fight.
Haney’s complete commitment to VADA testing is the Oakland native’s strongest statement to date regarding wanting to help clean up the sport’s PED epidemic. The ex-WBC super lightweight champion has been adamant about boxing becoming more serious about its testing procedures since Ryan Garcia failed a VADA test for ostarine, a banned substance, following Garcia’s 12-round, majority-decision victory over Haney on April 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The New York State Athletic Commission subsequently suspended Garcia for a year, fined him heavily and changed the official result of Garcia-Haney to a no-contest.
Haney, 26, also filed a lawsuit against Garcia late in September through which he seeks damages for battery, breach of contract and fraud from his controversial rival.
Nevertheless, Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs, 1 NC), of Victorville, California, and Haney (31-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC), of Henderson, Nevada, could fight again in what would be a very marketable rematch once Garcia’s suspension ends.
Garcia, 26, announced Tuesday that he will undergo surgery on his right wrist, an injury that caused him to withdraw in mid-December from his exhibition against Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo. The Garcia-Anpo fight was scheduled to be part of a combat sports card on New Year’s Eve in Tokyo.
An apologetic Garcia stated during RIZIN’s telecast Tuesday night that he intends to reschedule his fight against Anpo and make his trash-talking antagonist “eat his words.”
Keith Idec is a staff writer for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.