Boxing Rankings: Ryan Garcia Advances to Top 3 in Welterweight Division Amid Doping Test Fiasco

Ryan Garcia seems to be in an extremely weird spot in his career! On one hand, the Victorville native has PED allegations hanging over his head, threatening to halt his surging boxing career. On the other, BoxRec just promoted the 25-year-old to the number three spot in their best welterweight rankings. But wasn’t he super lightweight?

Well, the thing is, during the final weigh-ins for the Devin Haney fight last month, ‘King Ry’ Garcia came in three pounds heavier at 143, technically making him a welterweight! Even Garcia had suggested that making weight at super lightweight has become a daunting task for him even though he has fought in a lower weight class before. Nevertheless, Garcia’s sudden rise came as a shock to all, as Happy Punch revealed the update on social media today! 

A second of relief amid a storm of allegations

Turning to X earlier today, Happy Punch wrote, “Ryan Garcia is now a top 3 welterweight in the world on BoxRec. Terence Crawford, Jaron Ennis, Ryan Garcia.” Crawford, of course, has been on the top since his win over Errol Spence Jr. last year, but absolutely no one saw Garcia taking the third spot, especially since his B-Sample could end his career. 

At the start of this month, VADA revealed Garcia had tested positive for Ostarine and 19-Norandrosterone a day before and on the day of the fight. Since then, a later report from VADA has cleared the Victorville native of 19-Norandrosterone, but Ostarine continues to trouble the boxer.

Garcia has requested the analysis of his B-Sample, which will come to light on May 22, dictating whether he will be suspended and fined or be cleared. Meanwhile, Garcia has pushed Spence and undefeated Giovani Santillan down to fourth and fifth spot on Box Rec’s best welterweight list. However, what about rankings from other parties?

Does Ryan Garcia have a spot on Ring Magazine’s welterweight P4P list?

Ironically, Ryan Garcia wasn’t ranked in Ring Magazine’s best welterweight list, but here’s the kicker. He’s also absent from the super lightweight list after his dominant win over Devin Haney, who is currently ranked after Teofimo Lopez in Ring’s best super lightweight list. It could be because they are waiting for Garcia’s final test results to come out. 

Or, Ring doesn’t consider his win over Haney because of the extra three pounds—only time will tell. Meanwhile, the people actually reigning in the welterweight division, according to Ring, are ‘Bud’ Crawford, Spence Jr., Jaron Ennis, Eimantas Stanionis, and Santillan, in that order. According to Ring, Garcia doesn’t even make it in the top ten in either welterweight and super lightweight.

In a nutshell, things can go two ways from here for Ryan Garcia! Either he tests positive and his career goes to the gutters, or he tests negative, which might prompt Ring and other sanctioning bodies to include the Victorville native on their list. What do you think? Does Ryan Garcia deserve a spot in the top five?