By Dan Ambrose: WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (35-6-1, 20 KOs) has reportedly tested positive for his fourth banned substance in testing dirty for erythropoietin [AKA EPO]. Dan Rafael is reporting the news of Pascal’s new positive test for EPO.
It’s up to Pascal if he wants to have his B-sample tested to see if it comes up negative.
EPO is a substance that helps athletes with their stamina, allowing them to perform better without growing tired. For a 38-year-old athlete like Pascal, one could see how this would be beneficial for him.
It’s already bad enough that Pascal had tested positive for these three banned substances from his tests on May 14th and 17th:
- Drostanolone
- Drostanolone metabolite
- Epitrenbolone
It’s unclear how the fourth positive test will impact Pascal’s likely suspension. Whether it increases the suspension/fine is unknown. However, it sounds bad that Pascal for four banned substances, and obviously it will lead to some boxing fans to suspect that he was using in the past.
As the old saying goes, ‘when it rains, it pours,’ and that sure does hold for Pascal with him having one difficult situation after another.
At 38, Pascal can ill-afford a long suspension of a year or two, as he’s already been out of the ring for a year and a half since his fight with Badou Jack in December 2019.
Badou will remain on the Mayweather-Logan card and will be fighting little known replacement fighter Dervin Colina (15-0, 13 KOs),
Pascal has already been removed from his planned fight for this Sunday against former two-division world champion Badou on June 6th Showtime pay-per-view. The Jack vs. Pascal rematch had previously been penciled in as the co-feature for the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Logan Paul card
“I am shocked and embarrassed. I would never voluntarily take illegal substances,” Pascal said on social media. “I’ve always fought for a clean sport and will continue to do so.
“I want to assure all my fans that this is an isolated incident and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to prove it.”
Badou Jack thinks Pascal used banned substances during their fight in 2019, but he has no proof.
“We suspected he was dirty the first time around, and VADA confirmed it this time,” said Badou on social media about Pascal.
It’ll be interesting to see what comes from all of this. If it’s a case of Pascal consuming contaminated dietary supplements, it’s going to be difficult to use that as an excuse because he’s tested positive for four different banned substances.
Even if an over-the-counter dietary product might have one of the substances, it’s farfetched to believe that it would contain all four.