Ryan Garcia shocked the boxing world in 2024 after defeating Devin Haney via majority decision. But ‘King Ryan’s victory lasted only a brief moment, as the commission later overturned the result to a no-contest. The reason? He tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine after the fight. Although the 27-year-old left much of the boxing world disappointed with his actions, Joe Rogan did not view the situation as severely.

During an interview with Shakur Stevenson on his podcast released on March 8, the UFC color commentator reflected on Garcia’s PED controversy. According to Rogan, the substance did not play a major role in helping the California boxer secure the win against Haney, a take that Stevenson strongly disagreed with.

“Steroids don’t help you land punches,” Rogan stated on JRE MMA Show #175 with Shakur Stevenson. “They help you recover in training. They help you train a little harder. They might give you a little bit more power. But that left hook was on point.”

“But that little bit of power probably was enough to hurt Devin,” Stevenson replied. “Because if you really watched the fight and paid attention to it, people might not agree with me, but I feel like Devin was winning the moments that were quiet. Devin was winning most of the boxing exchanges. But the moments when Ryan was loud, and everyone saw Devin get hurt, if he didn’t get dropped by those punches, he could’ve won that fight,” he added.

Both individuals clearly hold very different views on Ryan Garcia’s PED usage. However, since the current WBC welterweight champion tested positive for the banned substance, many prominent boxing personalities, including British promoter Eddie Hearn and former American pro-boxer Andre Ward, criticized him for the Ostarine result. In that sense, Stevenson’s stance reflects the more common sentiment within the boxing community.

At the same time, Rogan defending Garcia from Stevenson’s accusations is not entirely surprising. The longtime UFC commentator has previously expressed a similar viewpoint, arguing that PEDs alone cannot turn someone into a fighter. He has also repeatedly used UFC star Jon Jones’ PED usage as an example to support that perspective.

While Rogan’s argument carries some merit, as steroids cannot magically turn an untrained athlete into a professional fighter, it is also true that they can offer certain competitive advantages. Still, exactly how much those advantages affect performance remains a topic of ongoing debate.

Now that Ryan Garcia has moved past that chapter and even went on to win the WBC belt by defeating Mario Barrios, is there any chance that a rematch could happen to decide the unfinished business? 

Devin Haney is open to a rematch with Ryan Garcia, but on one condition 

On April 20, 2024, Ryan Garcia certainly looked like the better fighter against Devin Haney. But since the bout became mired in controversy and was eventually ruled a no-contest, fans have continued to call for a rematch. Now, it appears ‘The Dream’ is ready to throw down with his rival once again. However, he has one condition. The undefeated WBO titleholder wants the fight to happen without any controversy.

“We’re not going to do it like that this time around,” Haney told Inside the Ring. “We’re going to do it the right way. If he doesn’t want to do it the right way, then we’ll move on. We’ll go on to fight the guy that beat him and the guy that he doesn’t want to rematch.

“He’s not screaming Rolly’s name. If that is the case, then we go, and we fight Rolly, and if Ryan Garcia wants to get realistic, then we can make that fight happen now or later,” he added.

Here, Devin Haney pointed out that Ryan Garcia has not been calling out Rolly Romero, who defeated him earlier. Instead, the attention has largely focused on a rematch with ‘The Dream,’ mainly because the first fight ended in such heavy controversy.

That said, with ‘King Ryan’ now holding the belt, would he actually choose the highly anticipated rematch with Haney next? Let us know in the comments section below.