Tyson Fury can have B-sample tested for cocaine

By Boxing News - 09/30/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: Heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury has allegedly tested positive for cocaine from his September 22nd test by Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) for his now aborted October 29 rematch against Wladimir Klitschko. According to Dan Rafael, Fury can have his B-sample tested for cocaine. That’s the good news.

If Fury comes out clean, then he at least has the cocaine issues out of the way, and he can then get his medical problems taken care of so he can get back inside the ring and fight Klitschko or whoever. I’m thinking the Klitschko fight probably won’t ever happen though.

Well, it’s all for the best. If Fury never fights Wladimir again, it’s no big deal. Fury can always fight Anthony Joshua and make big bank from that fight or maybe David Haye. All Fury needs to do is have the ‘B’ sample tested, so that will prove that he’s clean so that he can get back inside the ring and start fighting again.

Here’s a letter from VADA President Dr. Margaret Goodman sent to Fury’s representatives via ESPN.com:

“This letter is to advise you that the ‘A’ sample urine specimen number 4006253 collected from Tyson Fury on September 22, 2016 in Lancaster, England through his participation in the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) program has been analyzed for anabolic agents, diuretics, beta-2 agonists, stimulants and drugs of abuse. The results of the analysis are as follows: Adverse. Urine specimen contains benzoylecgonine. Mr. Fury has the right to promptly request analysis of the ‘B’ sample at his expense.”

Well, it’s not all bad for Fury, as long as he can have his ‘B’ sample tested so that he can prove that he’s clean.

We haven’t heard Fury’s side yet about any of this. I’m sure he or his promoter will be able to explain what’s happening.

The alleged positive test by the 28-year-old Fury occurred from the September 22nd test by VADA. Fury pulled out of the Klitschko fight for unspecified reasons a week ago on September 23. VADA was the agency in charge of the testing for the Fury-Klitschko 2 rematch.
As far as the alleged positive cocaine test goes, the substance benzoylecgonine was said to have been found in Fury’s urine, according to espn.com. Benzoylecgonine is one of the compounds in cocaine.

It’s possible that the 6’9” Fury might have his WBA and WBO heavyweight titles stripped from him quickly if he can’t prove his innocence with the ‘B’ sample test. That’s why it’s in Fury’s best interest to have his ‘B’ sample tested pronto so that he can prove to the boxing world that the alleged positive test was just a sad mistake. Testing will prove Fury’s innocence so that he can march back into the ring and face Wladimir and/or Joshua for that sweet cash. There’s a lot of green that Fury can still make before he wraps up his boxing career. He just needs to get the positive cocaine test thing behind him so that he can prove that it was a mistake or whatever.

Besides the alleged positive cocaine test, Fury has a UKADA hearing on November 4 about an alleged positive test with that agency allegedly found for the banned substance steroid Nandrolone. That test wasn’t from Fury’s last fight against Klitschko. According to ESPN, it was from an earlier fight.

“I feel very sorry that UKADA never was open about that situation with us because then we would have insisted on VADA testing before the first fight,” Klitschko’s manager Bernd Boente said to espn.com. “I think Fury is probably the most unworthy heavyweight champion in history.”

November 4 is just around the corner, so we should be hearing the news soon about what happens with that hearing. It’s unclear whether there will be a ‘B’ sample for Fury to ask UKADA to test or what. It would be good if that can be worked out. It would be a real negative for Fury’s career if things go badly for him with that hearing.

Apparently, Fury could lose his boxing license by him being banned, suspended or revoked. With the addition of the alleged positive cocaine test for Fury, he’s got a lot of things on his plate right now that will need to be cleared up before he can get back inside the ring to resume his boxing career. Hopefully for Fury’s sake he can come back from all of this. He’s still very young and presumably has a lot of years ahead of him in the sport if he can take care of his issues with the latest news.

When Fury pulled out of his rematch with Wladimir on September 23, it was thought that he would just take care of some life issues before getting into the ring to resume his pro career, but now things are looking a little complicated for the British heavyweight. For Fury to hit the reset button on his career, he’s going to need to get through these alleged positive drug tests before he can get back in action.

If Fury’s two heavyweight titles are stripped from him by the WBA and WBO, Wladimir will likely fight for one or both of them against Anthony Joshua in a mega-fight in November or December. It would be a huge money fight for Wladimir. Even if he gets knocked out, which I believe he will, it will be a great send off for his long career in the sport. At 40, Wladimir appears to be at the end of his pro career, and it’s hard to imagine him being able to beat Joshua or any of the other top heavyweights.