During a recent ProBox TV segment, former fighter and current boxing commentator Paulie Malignaggi didn’t didn’t mince words when assessing his thoughts on Ryan Garcia. During one part of the show Malignaggi says he doesn’t believe Garcia is that good of a fighter and has suspected for years now that he’s been taking banned substances for a competitive edge.
“Ryan Garcia, not doping, is not fast, he’s not strong, he’s not conditioned, he’s not even good,” Malignaggi said. “I have been suspicious of Ryan Garcia doping probably since the Duno fight. The Duno fight, I saw the knockout and I didn’t say ‘this guy’s definitely doping’ because you can never really just say that, but there was a certain kind of power surge all the sudden in Ryan Garcia’s career. And it was drastic, it wasn’t like ‘he is kind of strong,’
“He was getting stoppages but the Duno fight where you hit a durable guy and you barely hit him on the top of the head and one leg went one way, the other leg went the other way, and he’s knocked down in the first round — I was like ‘man, this guy was never hitting like that.’”
Garcia tested positive for banned substance ostarine following his win over Devin Haney, which would subsequently lead to that victory being overturned to a no contest decision, but Garcia continues to maintain that he’s never cheated by knowingly taking any banned substances.