Ryan Garcia should be banned for life if failed drugs test is confirmed - Barry McGuigan

Zero tolerance is the only way. If Ryan Garcia’s second sample confirms the presence of the performance enhancing drug found in the first test, he should not be allowed in a ring again. Simple as that.

Every single person caught denies it, presenting the finding as some kind of mystery. Whether Garcia accepts it or not, one test before the fight against Devin Haney and one on the day of the fight confirmed the presence of a banned substance. It is only a matter of time before boxing suffers a fatality at the hands of a fighter with illegal substances in his body. What happens then?

Boxing is dangerous enough. Just ask Gerald McClellan or Michael Watson. Back in 1982 Young Ali fell into a coma after our fight and died. I was devastated and did not know if I could carry on with the sport.

But to suffer a fatality to illegal drug use would be unforgivable. Garcia’s followers laughed at the psychological game he played before the Haney bout. Now it does not seem so funny.

We have been here before, but this, assuming the results are verified, is an opportunity for the sport to act decisively and make an example of someone. Boxing always finds ways of allowing dopers to fight on which perpetuates the problem.

Garcia should never have been allowed to box the first place. Failing to make the weight is just another way of cheating. The requirement to make weight is a contract with your opponent to do the right thing, to play by the rules, to honour the sport. Not to come in on target was a reckless act that totally disregarded Haney.

Garcia went into fight knowing he wasn’t going to make the 140-pound super-lightweight limit and was willing to pay a $1.5m penalty. He did this knowing Haney was busting a gut to make the weight.

To rid yourself of those extra few pounds, drying out essentially, is excruciating for a fighter. It is extremely debilitating, a horrible process.

By avoiding it you are spared the agony and the pain plus you gain a huge advantage. In reality he was a welterweight not a super-lightweight. Yes Haney would have rehydrated by fight time but he was weakened by the process in a way his opponent was not.

And that can be a huge advantage, as Garcia showed by putting Haney down and inflicting upon him a first career defeat. Now we know how he did it.

Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym