43-year-old Tarver tests positive for a banned substance

By Boxing News - 06/22/2012 - Comments

Image: 43-year-old Tarver tests positive for a banned substanceBy Eric Thomas: 43-year-old IBO cruiserweight champion Antonio Tarver (29-6-1, 20 KO’s) has allegedly tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone from a urine test taken before his fight against unbeaten cruiserweight contender Lakeef Kayode earlier this month on June 2nd.

Tarver has been suspended by the California Commission and fined $2,500, according to ESPN. Tarver made $1 million for the fight. Kayode’s urine test results came up clean. Tarver and Kayode were both tested before and after their fight. Tarver’s sample A was tested and it showed up positive for the steroid. The sample B hasn’t yet been tested, according to ESPN. Tarver has the option of asking for the second sample to be tested. He can also appeal.

It’s unclear if Tarver, who also works as an television boxing analyst for Showtime, will be working Saturday’s fight on Showtime between Victor Ortiz and Joseito Lopez in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tarver says he plans on appealing the suspension. However, unless his sample B comes up negative for steroids, he’s not going to win that appeal. Given that they were taken at such a close time frame – before and after the Kayode fight – it’s possible that the second sample will also test positive for steroids. If there is something that has thrown off the test in Tarver’s body, it could also cause the second sample to be positive as well.

This is really bad news for Tarver and for boxing because he fought well against Kayode in the second half of the bout, and he wanted to go after the big names in the cruiserweight division such as Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi. Tarver was hoping to get a win over one of those guys and then move up to the heavyweight division to challenge IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Some of boxing’s biggest names have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs recently; fighters such as Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto.



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