The former undisputed lightweight champion filed a lawsuit against Garcia for battery, fraud and breach of contract which caused him injury, emotional distress, reputational damage and millions in potential earnings after he tested positive for the banned substance, ostarine.

Garcia weighed in at 143lbs ahead of what was supposed to be a super lightweight title fight for which the limit is 140lbs – then proceeded to knock Haney down three times on the way to a majority decision win. 

Haney has insisted he never wanted to pursue legal action and was determined to get his revenge in the ring rather than the courtroom. 

• Read next | Olympic star calls for Itauma fight to prove heavyweight division's 'baddest man'

(Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)

"I would say that my team was [behind the lawsuit]," Haney explained to Ariel Helwani. "That wasn't something [I wanted]. I'm a fighter — I want to get it back in the ring. I want to get it back in blood, and that was my mindset from the start to the end. I've always wanted to do a rematch.

“There was a guy who cheated, and I was getting all the flak. I missed out on a lot of money, I missed out on a lot of opportunities for a guy who cheated me. But I wouldn't have wanted to do it like that [sue Garcia], which I didn't end up doing it like that. I didn't go down that route.

“I said, 'Listen, let's fight. Forget that, forget any lawsuit, forget anything. Let's settle it in the ring’.”

It looked as though Haney and Garcia would get their rematch earlier this year as they both signed lucrative deals with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season, where they would both have one warm-up fight before reigniting their hostilities in Riyadh. 

Haney held up his end of the bargain when they both featured on the Times Square card on May 3, beating Jose Ramirez on points. 

But Garcia fell short as he slipped to an upset defeat at the hands of his old rival, Rolando Romero, scuppering plans for a potential rematch with Haney. 

Haney has now moved on and is scheduled to fight Brian Norman Jr for his WBO welterweight title on November 22, and Garcia is still in limbo, looking for his next opponent after recovering from minor hand surgery – but appears more interested in a rematch with Romero rather than fighting Haney right now. 

Watch Buatsi vs. Parker live on DAZN

Joshua Buatsi vs. Zach Parker is live on DAZN this Saturday night, November 1. Watch the fight and whole card with a DAZN subscription.

Annual and monthly options available, click here for pricing and options.