Former boxing champion banned from fighting after racist rant

Former interim WBC lightweight champion Ryan Garcia has been banned from professional boxing’s World Boxing Council following a series of racist tweets targeting African Americans and Muslims. The ban, announced last week, comes less than a month after he was suspended for a year by the New York State Athletic Commission following a positive test for PEDs.
The decision to ban Garcia was announced on July 4 via X by WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman.
Garcia had fought professionally as recently as April 20, 2024, in a win against Devin Haney, which was ultimately swapped to a no-contest after Garcia’s positive PED test. As it stands, that will be the last fight of Garcia’s WBC career. Here’s everything to know.
Garcia went on a tirade on social media, making several offensive remarks about Muslims and African Americans, even going as far as making disparaging remarks about George Floyd during a conversation on X Spaces.
According to reports, Garcia was caught using racial slurs, including those against Black people, and even referred to himself as the KKK. At one point, Garcia reportedly said that he wished they could bring Floyd back to life so they could “kill that (expletive) again.”
Questions about Garcia’s mental health had been prevalent for quite some time leading up to the rant. Prior to his most recent fight against Haney, fans noticed that Garcia had been acting out of character and much more sporadic. Garcia claimed that this was an effort to help promote the fight, but there were persisting doubts. In Sulaiman’s post on X, he notes that the WBC had offered Garcia mental health and substance abuse counseling but that Garcia declined every time.
Since the backlash to Garcia’s comments, Garcia has backtracked, claiming that he was “trolling” and that his friends were provoking him. Garcia did note that these were not excuses for what he did, but rather him trying to own up to his selfish actions.
In a now-deleted post on X, Garcia said “I love everyone. Sorry if I offended you.” Since then, Garcia has made another apology online.
As it stands, Garcia is banned from fighting in WBC events. Could Garcia be picked up by another organization? Perhaps, but any company willing to give him a shot right now would be taking on a lot of negative press. Furthermore, it’s likely that if Garcia were to participate in any non-WBC professional events, the scale would not be as grand as it once was.
Garcia’s career record sits at 24-1, with one no-decision after his fight against Haney was changed to a no-decision. Garcia won 20 of those fights via knockout. His one loss came at the hands of current WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis on April 22, 2023.
Prior to this incident, Garcia was not only an esteemed professional boxer but also a social media superstar. Outside of boxing, Garcia had received several brand endorsements and advertising deals. Garcia currently has 12.4 million followers on Instagram.
All in all, Garcia’s net worth sits around $50 million, according to a report by Celebrity Net Worth. The same publication estimated his worth at $20 million a year prior.
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