Now that he has finally become a world champion, many felt the much-anticipated rematch with Devin Haney could be next in line for Ryan Garcia. Instead, a surprise move saw the new WBC welterweight champion call out another newly crowned titlist – the WBO & Ring titleholder Shakur Stevenson. So what happens to the Haney fight? Is Garcia calling out Stevenson a response to Haney’s latest comments, in which he appears to have ruled out a rematch? Garcia and his team fired back when a reporter highlighted Haney’s snub over a familiar complaint—Garcia’s rumored resistance to VADA testing.

“Devin, he don’t want that,” Garcia responded. “He has PTSD. I just wanna beat Devin Haney’s a–”

“I mean, just look (Opens his arm to reveal the place from where VADA collected a sample) You think I got an IV? Like bro, this is blood work!”

Hearing this, Lupe Valencia, Garcia’s advisor, stepped in to clarify.

“People say all kinds of nonsense, but Ryan’s been doing testing his entire career,” Valencia exclaimed. “He’s fought for interim titles. When he fought Gervonta Davis, we were doing VADA testing, and it wasn’t for a title. He’s been testing his entire career.”

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“People are trying to hate on Ryan. And they’re just excuses for Haney to feel good about himself. You know, Haney wants an excuse as to why he got beat up, and that’s it. So, it’s all nonsense.”

The advisor argued that Ryan Garcia has complied with VADA testing every time he signed a fight contract. According to Valencia, given those facts, claims that Garcia is dropping out of a testing program amount to little more than excuses.

The Barrios victory seems to have signaled growing confidence within Team Garcia. It has given them reason to push back at a champion who has positioned himself as a voice for clean boxing. Devin Haney had earlier suggested he was moving on from a rematch, claiming he dropped the idea after his archrival allegedly “dropped out of VADA testing.”

Even Garcia’s latest victory did little to sway Haney, who hinted that the Victorville native could be “off that good juice.”

Devin Haney pumps the brakes on a Ryan Garcia rematch

While Garcia and his camp’s response was expected, Haney’s posts carry a more guarded tone. That shift traces back to what unfolded after their first meeting in April 2024. The fight at Barclays Center initially ended in Garcia’s favor by majority decision.

Soon after, it emerged that Garcia failed doping tests that returned positive results for the banned substance ostarine. Garcia maintained that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Swift action from the state athletic commission led to a one-year suspension, along with financial penalties. Officials later overturned the result of the bout to a no-contest.

Feeling that the episode damaged both his reputation and future opportunities, Haney filed a lawsuit against Garcia for “battery, fraud, and breach of contract.”

Though their careers moved in different directions – Haney rebounding to capture a welterweight title with a win over Brian Norman Jr. this past November, while Garcia absorbed a loss to Rolando Romero – talk of a rematch never fully faded.

Reports that the two sides settled the lawsuit intensified speculation that had already grown when Garcia posted photos of friendly meet-ups with Haney on social media. Yet Bill Haney’s stance on moving beyond a rematch and targeting Romero instead only deepened the uncertainty.

With his latest comments, Haney appears content to wait. Let Garcia take on a tough assignment, assess the outcome, then make the next move.