Devin Haney’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, wants a lifetime ban for Ryan Garcia if his positive tests for the PED Ostarine are proven not to be an accident from his win last month over Dev.
Ryan ruined Haney’s image with the pummeling he gave him in their headliner at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Hearn wanting a lifetime ban on Ryan Garcia isn’t going to change what happened. Ryan being banned permanently would take some of the heat off of Haney for his defeat.
Unfortunately, the beating was so decisive that it left Hearn with a fighter whose image is tarnished to the point where he’s viewed as damaged goods. Hearn is stuck with Haney now, whose popularity has nosedived and he’s no longer a keeper.
Playing the victim card isn’t going to help Haney’s popularity because Hearn can’t help him. It’s too late. Fans have already formed their opinion, and it’s not going to change anything if Ryan Garcia is given a lifetime ban.
It was essentially a knockout for Ryan. Most agree that if the referee had done his job, the fight would have been over in the seventh round.
No matter how Hearn attempts to varnish what happened, he can’t whitewash what fans witnessed with Haney getting the stuffing beaten out of him by Ryan.
Hearn also wants Haney’s loss to vanish from his record from his 12-round majority decision loss to Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) on April 20th, with the fight ruled a no contest.
“If he did take them intentionally and he cheated, he should arguably never be able to fight again…You see clips of him with IV drips,” said Hearn to the media, talking about Ryan Garcia.
In some ways, it would work for Haney’s career if Ryan were given a lifetime ban because each time the defeat was brought up, fans would say, ‘Ryan was using PEDs for the fight.’ The impressionable fans would give Haney a pass for the defeat.
The way Haney lost the fight, he’s going to continue to lose when fighting anyone with power, so it’s not going to help him if Ryan is banned for life from the sport.