Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney Drama Includes BALCO Mastermind Victor Conte

May 2, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

Wednesday’s news that boxer Ryan Garcia tested positive for drugs before his three-knockdown loss over Devin Haney last month came with a twist.

Haney works with Victor Conte, the mastermind of the BALCO steroid scandal that 20 years ago tarnished the reputations and achievements of Barry Bonds, Marion Jones and dozens of other professional athletes.

Conte, 73, also helped create the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), the nonprofit organization that conducted the two drug tests Garcia failed before his fight with Haney, according to ESPN and Sports Illustrated. (Conte cites VADA as proof that he is now committed to working against drug cheats.)

ESPN cited a letter from VADA reporting that Garcia tested positive for ostarine, a performance-enhancing substance on the list of prohibited substances issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Garcia denied taking steroids.

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“I heard Devin Haney, he’s connected to Victor Conte, who’s connected to VADA, very close,” Garcia said during a video he posted to his social media accounts. “Victor Conte known to have been caught for cheating”.

Since serving a four-month prison sentence for his role in the BALCO scandal, Conte has made a home for himself in boxing. He said he has trained 28 champions.

Among the best: Devin Haney.

Devin Haney endorses Victor Conte’s product

Haney endorses one of Conte’s supplements in a video posted on the website of SNAC, Conte’s supplement company.

“Victor Conte’s combat training has taken me to the next level,” Haney says. “I feel a lot better. My energy level has been great. …Devin Haney. You won’t regret it. I’m strong at SNAC.”

Conte said he has been working with Haney for at least eight years and met him through Shawn Porter. Conte said it wasn’t a surprise to receive a call from the Haneys after learning of Garcia’s positive drug tests.

“I’m kind of the key guy on Devin’s team in that sense,” Conte told USA TODAY Sports.

Bill Haney, who coaches his son Devin, did not respond to USA TODAY Sports’ requests for comment sent via voicemail and text message.

Conte said Wednesday that he spoke twice with Haney’s attorney, John Hornewer, to explain the results of Garcia’s drug tests. He also said he works with Hornewer on the drug testing protocol that is included in all of Haney’s fight contracts, including the contract for the Garcia fight.

“I’m the one who dictated the testing frequency of the entire program,” Conte said.

Hornewer did not immediately respond to USA TODAY Sports’ requests for comment sent via voicemail and text message.

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Victor Conte faces skepticism

In a 2023 Netflix documentary about Conte, Haney is shown training and wearing an oxygen mask at Conte’s facility in the San Francisco Bay Area. Conte touts the benefits of high-gravity training and also says he provides boxers with blood tests, dietary recommendations and nutritional supplements like those he still sells.

“There are a lot of things that work and that are legal,” he told USA TODAY Sports at the time of the documentary’s release.

Conte said he has dedicated himself to eradicating doping in sports and is committed to training athletes without the use of performance-enhancing substances.

Conte said he knows there will always be skeptics, like former IRS agent Jeff Novitzky, who led the BALCO investigation.

“He will accept any publicity as long as his name is in the lights,” Novitzky, now the UFC’s senior vice president of athlete health and performance, says in the film. “So I don’t think you can believe a word. says the guy.”

Víctor Conte refutes Ryan García

After news of Garcia’s positive drug tests broke, the boxer questioned the timing of the results’ release. A drug test was conducted on April 19, the day of the weigh-in, and a second test on April 20, the day of the fight.

“If they had this information, they should have released it before the fight took place, because why would you let a cheater in the ring?” García said in comments recorded on X, formerly Twitter. “Suddenly I win and then you let it go? It seems a little suspicious to me.”

In a post on X, Conte told García to stop “spitting out” information. Noting that the samples were taken the day before and the day of the fight, Conte said it takes at least 72 hours to get the results, so they would not have been available before the fight.

Oliver Catlin, an anti-doping expert, also told USA TODAY Sports that results would not have been available until at least a few days after the tests were conducted.

“Attacking the timeline seems like a weak argument,” said Catlin, son of famed anti-doping scientist Don Catlin.

Travis Tygart, executive director of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said the standard turnaround time is a couple of weeks.

“Obviously, you don’t have to rush it and you have to do it right,” he said.

Disputing claims that small amounts of banned substances could exonerate Garcia, Conte wrote in “

Enjoying the moment Wednesday as he explained the results of the anti-doping tests, Conte said: “No one knows more about these things than me.”