Ryan Garcia appears to have announced that he is returning to the ring early next year despite still serving a boxing ban.
‘King Ry’ is suspended until April 2025 by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) after testing positive for banned PED Ostarine in three separate drug tests taken around his last outing against Devin Haney on April 20.
Garcia was initially declared the victor via unanimous decision in a fight that saw him floor Haney three times.
However, the result has since been overturned to a no contest on both men’s records.
The disgraced boxer was also recently expelled by the WBC for his racist and Islamophobic comments on social media.
But according to his social media, Garcia will be facing undefeated French boxer Jaber Zayani in Dubai in January 2025.
Taking to Instagram, he uploaded a poster for the event with the caption: “Coming to Dubai in January! Big event,” before tagging Zayani.
His opponent took to the comment section to post: “See you soon” while he also uploaded a fight poster of his own.
Both flyers had a header reading: “Ryan Garcia featuring musical performances and a boxing event with Jaber Zayani.”
Suggestions on social media were that Garcia and Zayani would be squaring off in an exhibition bout to get around the 26-year-old’s ban – although nothing has been confirmed.
The event organiser Secrets of Eden Group also hasn’t uploaded anything about the fight on their social media at the time of writing but has been active since Garcia’s post.
Garcia had previously suggested that he was going to return to the ring at the back end of this year in an exhibition bout against Manny Pacquiao.
Garcia appears to be returning to the ring in January against Zayani[/caption]
Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara confirmed that talks were underway in August but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.
Sakaibara told The Sun: “I don’t think they [NYSAC] will [stop it]. Because if it were to happen it would be an unofficial fight.
“If this unofficial fight were to happen in Rizin, in Japan, I believe there will be no reason for the New York State Athletic Commission to try to stop Ryan.”
Garcia’s supposed next opponent, Zayani, is 18-0 in the paid ranks with 11 of his wins coming by way of knockout.
He hasn’t competed in professional boxing since March 2022 when he stopped Filipino journeyman Jonel Gadapan in the second round.
Zayani has fought from super featherweight to super lightweight during his career.
