Boxing Star's Shocking Positive Test
Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker stands accused of taking cocaine just days before his crucial fight against Britain's Fabian Wardley. The 33-year-old New Zealander's UK manager, Spencer Brown, has verified reports confirming Parker tested positive on the very day of the bout, sending shockwaves through the boxing community.
VADA's Adverse Finding
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) collected a sample from Parker on October 25, with analysis revealing an adverse finding for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. In standard procedure, the B-sample typically confirms the initial result, and VADA will present its findings to the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) for disciplinary action.
According to boxing expert Mike Coppinger, Parker could have consumed the substance as recently as 48 hours before fight night. "Cocaine is water soluble - eliminated when one urinates and sweats - and only stays in the system around 48 hours," Coppinger tweeted. "Can be longer with heavy use. But casual use usually 48 hours and three days max."
The National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association supports this, stating cocaine can be detected in urine for up to four days after consumption.
Potential Consequences and Past Precedent
Despite cocaine being considered recreational rather than performance-enhancing, Parker faces potentially severe consequences. British boxer Liam Cameron received a four-year ban in 2018 after testing positive for the same substance, despite denying any wrongdoing.
Parker's UK manager Spencer Brown expressed his reaction to the bombshell news: "We are in total shock at the findings, we are just waiting to speak to Joe, David Higgins and his promoter Frank Warren. It's very early days and we will get to the bottom of it all."
The New Zealand heavyweight, currently on holiday, will have the opportunity to have his B-sample tested. Parker, a father of six, was with his wife and children during the fight week against Wardley, which he lost via an 11th-round stoppage at London's O2 Arena.
This isn't Parker's first controversy with drug testing procedures. Eight years ago in 2017, he missed a World Boxing Council imposed test after extending his holiday following his win over Razvan Cojanu. His promoters at the time, Duco Events, called it "an oversight."
Parker had been favourite to defeat Wardley and had previously given up his mandatory challenger status to fight champion Oleksandr Usyk to take the British fight instead - a decision that ultimately proved costly both in the ring and now potentially for his career.
