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Boxing

27th Sep 2018

Billy Joe Saunders reportedly fails VADA drug test

Jack O'Toole

WBO middleweight world champion Billy Joe Saunders has reportedly failed a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association drug test for the banned substance oxilofrine, a stimulant of the amphetamine class that is thought to allow people to burn fat faster and lose weight.

Saunders is preparing to defend his WBO title against Demetrius Andrade in Boston next month but that fight could now be in jeopardy after lead ESPN boxing reporter Dan Rafael reported that Saunders had failed the drugs test.

The news of the alleged failed drugs test follows a £100,000 fine for Saunders from the British Boxing Board of Control after the 29-year-old was filmed offering a woman £150 worth of drugs to perform a sex act before later asking her to punch a person nearby.

The BBBofC found Saunders guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute for his part in the video while the fighter apologised for his actions and attributed his mistake to ‘banter going wrong’.

Saunders also posted a tweet on Monday of what appears to UKAD (United Kingdom Anti-Doping Authority) testing equipment accompanied by the caption ‘clean sport’.

https://twitter.com/bjsaunders_/status/1044251422630596608