Joseph Parker will now return to the boxing stage after completing a three-month suspension. The UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) confirmed that the anti-doping rule violation is accidental cocaine misuse by a member of his support staff (not anything to do with cheating or to enhance his athletic performance.) Parker’s suspension ended an embarrassing sequence of events and the story is complete after a series of recent post-bout testing procedures after he was cleared to compete in the sport after three months of a test that had been expected to be an unknown and unexpected one.
The controversy started from Parker’s high-profile heavyweight match at London’s O2 Arena with British rival Fabio Wardley. Parker was tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) on the day of the fight and received an adverse diagnosis for benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine) in a UKAD sample on the morning of December 22. Parker lost 11th round stoppage defeat to Wardley which damaged his standing in the heavyweight division and eliminated him as a mandatory challenger. From the very beginning of the investigation, Parker denied knowingly ingesting any prohibited substance.
Parker made detailed evidence to UKAD that suggests accidental environmental contamination as a defense for his legal case. Anti-theft and regulatory authorities were told that the nutritionist who led his training camp was a regular user of cocaine and had taken it every day before the fight. Scientists reviewed the evidence and found that the substance contained in boxer’s system was probably due to oral ingestion of food that was prepared or eaten close to the boxer. Further, they concluded that the ingestion occurred out of competition and not in any way related to performance in sport.
With the findings taken into account, UKAD decided that a retroactive three-month period of ineligibility was sufficient and the sanction was now served. Parker had held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018 and had won big fights with Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Now that he is back and he can return to the gym, the heavyweight champion will be looking for a big match and a shot at the title before the end of the year.
