Joseph Parker (right) has tested positive for the banned substance (Picture: Getty)
Joseph Parker is facing a multi-year ban after testing positive for cocaine on the day of his heavyweight fight with Britain’s Fabio Wardley.
The former World Champion suffered a dramatic 11th-round defeat to Wardley last month in a fight to determine who would get the next shot at undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Parker was ahead on the scorecards heading into the final rounds before being controversially stopped by the Ipswich fighter at the O2 Arena.
However, the Kiwi boxer’s immediate future in the sport has been thrown into doubt after The Sun reported that the 33-year-old has returned an adverse finding from a fight-night anti-doping test.
Parker was tested by the Voluntary Anti Doping Agency (VADA) on October 25, with the A-sample testing positive for cocaine.
The heavyweight boxer and his team will have the opportunity to test the B-sample, although in the vast majority of cases, both samples return the same result.
It is unclear how the substance entered Parker’s system, although Cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine traces usually only remain in urine for around four days.
Joseph Parker could be slapped with a ban of up to two years (Picture: Getty)
That would suggest that contact with the drug would have taken place in fight week.
A source close to Parker told the Sun: ‘I am absolutely shocked. This has been the first camp where Joe has all of his family around.
‘The camp had gone great and he put on a good performance in a great fight.’
The publication adds that Parker is said to currently be away on holiday with his family following his fight with Wardley.
While cocaine is not a performance-enhancing drug, its use is strictly prohibited during ‘in-competition’ periods and carries the potential of a two-year ban.
The VADA will now hand their findings over to the UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) and the British Boxing Board of Control, who license the fight and deal with any potential drug-related punishments.
More to follow…
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