By Dan Ambrose: Devin Haney got Ryan Garcia riled up on social media on Wednesday in saying that trainer Eddy Reynoso’s “whole camp is on that s***” in reacting to Oscar Valdez’s positive drug test for the banned substance phentermine this week.
The unbeaten Ryan took issue with Haney’s comment, telling him to shut up for implying that he’s using PEDs due to being in the same training camp and having the same trainer as Valdez.
Haney then let 23-year-old Ryan Garcia know that he’s been ducking him, which is hard not to agree with, given that the Golden Boy promoted fighter opted not to face him after becoming his WBC mandatory earlier this year.
The only thing that Ryan could come up with for why he hasn’t fought Haney is that he’s been putting fans asleep and failing to bring in subscribers on DAZN for his fights.
It’s a bad look on Ryan Garcia’s part that he took part in a WBC-ordered 135-lb title eliminator last January against Luke Campbell.
After Ryan beat Campbell, he chose not to use his mandatory status to challenge Haney for his WBC title. That made Ryan look like he’s ducking Haney.
If Ryan had gotten back in the ring to face a top-level fighter like Teofimo Lopez, Vasily Lomachenko, or Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, he would have a good excuse for why he chose not to challenge Haney.
Unfortunately, Ryan hasn’t fought at all, and he pulled out of his July 9th fight against Javier Fortuna due to anxiety issues. Joseph ‘Jo Jo ‘ Diaz Jr. was good enough to step up and do the work that Ryan couldn’t do by beating Fortuna in a war on the July 9th date.
WBO super featherweight champion Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) is trained by Reynoso, as is Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, Andy Ruiz Jr., and many other notable fighters.
Gervonta Davis got the ball rolling with his remark, “Lol..so we using stimulants to enhance our performance now. Bet.”
From there, WBC lightweight champion Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) jumped in with the comment about Reynoso’s “whole camp” being on banned substances.
As far as Oscar Valdez’s positive test for phentermine, his attorney met with the WBC, Top Rank, and Pascua Yaqui Tribe Athletic Commission this week to decide what to be done over his positive test.
We should know soon whether Valdez, 30, will be permitted to keep his WBC 130-lb title and defend it on September 10th against #14 WBC Robson Conceição (16-0, 8 KOs) at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
If Valdez is stripped of his WBC title and suspended, it’s possible we could see the next two highest-ranked contenders in the World Boxing Council’s rankings at 130 meets for the vacant belt. That would be these two fighters:
- Miguel Berchelt
- O’Shaquie Foster
Valdez is coming off a tenth round knockout over former WBC super featherweight champion Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs) earlier this year on February 20th. Oscar looked impressive using his left hook to drop what many boxing fans viewed as the invincible Berchelt three times in the fight.
The Oscar Valdez Phentermine stimulant case is much like the BJ Saunders Oxilofrine case. Saunders lost his title $2.3m purse & was suspended. Phentermine & Oxilofrine are potent stimulants that can enhance performance. MASS athletic commission upheld VADA positive test result
— Victor Conte (@VictorConte) August 31, 2021