Former boxing heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker has failed a voluntary drug test, unveiling traces of cocaine found in his system on the day of his fight against Fabio Wardley last month.
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) conducted 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 in their interim World Boxing Organisation (WBO) title bout.
With these results, Parker’s career is in serious jeopardy with a potential mutli-year ban now looming.
The findings of results were made public on Friday, November 14, leaving the boxing world in shock.
A source close to Parker's camp expressed complete disbelief citing this was the first training camp where the fighter had his wife and children with him throughout.
Parker’s team has now requested for the B-sample analysis.
The cocaine metabolites can be detected in the abuser for up to four days, indicating Parker would have used the drug during the critical fight week period.
While the drug does not play any role in performance-enhancing, it is strictly prohibited in competition by anti-doping authorities.
The results will be passed to UK Anti-doping and the British Boxing Board of Control, which can impose a suspension of up to four years.
The failed test casts a shadow over the remarkable career resurgence for Parker, who had previously scored impressive victories over former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Chinese acclaimed boxer Zhilein Zhang before the Wardley defeat.