Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joseph Parker has failed a voluntary drugs 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) conducted the test on 25 October. 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 World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim title fight.
With these results, Parker’s career is in serious jeopardy with a potential multi-year ban now looming.
The results of the results were announced on Friday, November 14, leaving the boxing world in shock.
A source close to Parker’s camp expressed complete disbelief, citing that this was the first training camp where the fighter had his wife and children with him throughout.
Parker’s team has now requested the B sample analysis.
The cocaine metabolites can be detected in the addict for up to four days, indicating that Parker would have used the drug during the critical fight week.
Although the substance has no role in performance enhancement, it is strictly prohibited in competition by anti-doping authorities.
The results will be passed on 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 previously had impressive wins over former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and renowned Chinese boxer Zhilein Zhang before the Wardley defeat.
