Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joseph Parker failed a voluntary drug test, revealing traces of cocaine found in his system on the day of his fight against Fabio Wardley last month.
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) carried out the test on October 25. The substance was detected in the 33-year-old boxer hours before he was stopped in the 11th round by British fighter Wardley during his interim World Boxing Organization (WBO) title fight.
With these results, Parker’s career is in serious jeopardy with a potential multi-year ban now looming.
The findings of the results were made public on Friday, November 14, leaving the boxing world in shock.
A source close to Parker’s camp expressed complete disbelief, saying this was the first training camp where the fighter had his wife and children with him throughout.
Parker’s team has now requested analysis of the B sample.
Cocaine metabolites can be detected in the abuser for up to four days, indicating that Parker may have used the drug during the critical period of fight week.
Although this drug plays no role in performance enhancement, it is strictly prohibited in competition by anti-doping authorities.
The results will be forwarded to UK Anti-doping and the British Boxing Board of Control, who can impose a suspension of up to four years.
The failed test casts a shadow over the remarkable career resurgence of Parker, who had already scored impressive victories against former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and famed Chinese boxer Zhilein Zhang before Wardley’s defeat.
