Ryan Garcia appears to announce return in surprise fight amid boxing suspension

Ryan Garcia appears to have announced he will return to the ring early next year despite still serving a boxing suspension.

“King Paradise” has been suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) until April 2025 after testing positive for the banned PED ostarine in three separate drug tests conducted during his last appearance against Devin Haney April 20.

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Garcia was initially declared the winner by unanimous decision in a fight in which he knocked out Haney three times.

However, both men’s results have since been overturned and declared a no contest.

The disgraced boxer was also recently expelled from WBC for his racist and Islamophobic comments on social media.

But according to his social media accounts, Garcia will face undefeated French boxer Jaber Zayani in Dubai in January 2025.

On Instagram, he uploaded a poster of the event with the caption: “Coming to Dubai in January! Big Event,” before celebrating Zayani.

His opponent took to the comments section to write: “See you soon” and also uploaded his own fight poster.

Both leaflets had the heading: “Ryan Garcia with musical performances and a boxing match with Jaber Zayani.”

There has been speculation on social media that Garcia and Zayani will meet in an exhibition bout to circumvent the 26-year-old’s suspension, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Event organizer Secrets of Eden Group also had not uploaded anything about the fight to their social media at the time of writing, but has been active since Garcia’s post.

Garcia previously suggested he was set to return to the ring later this year in an exhibition bout against Manny Pacquiao.

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Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara confirmed that talks were held in August, but nothing has come to fruition so far.

Sakaibara said Sun: “I don’t think they (NYSAC) (will stop it). Because if that happened, it would be an unofficial fight.

“If this unofficial fight takes place in Rizin, Japan, I believe the New York State Athletic Commission will have no reason to try to stop Ryan.”

Garcia’s projected next opponent, Zayani, is 18-0 in the paid rankings with 11 of his wins coming by knockout.

He has not fought professionally since March 2022, when he stopped Filipino journeyman Jonel Gadapan in the second round.

Zayani competed from super lightweight to super lightweight during his career.