Leave Tete doping saga to the sports scientists

He has demanded the test of a B-sample

There is no more devastating news than the misfortune that befell multiple world boxing champion Zolani Tete, at least not in this province.

Tete allegedly failed a dope test for a banned substance after his stunning fourth-round stoppage win over British boxer Jason Cunningham in Arena Wembley in UK on July 2.

It is not yet known what substance he had allegedly tested positive for.

The win bagged him three regional as well as the Commonwealth junior featherweight titles and catapulted him into the world title mix in all major world bodies.

However all is set to be expunged with the Commonwealth belt having already been relinquished though the Tete team insists that the decision was not taken because of adverse findings.

What has been particularly interesting in this saga is how Tete’s UK promoter Frank Warren was kept in the dark by UK Anti-Doping Agency which instead informed the boxer and its counterparts SA Institute For Drug-Free Sport.

Shortly after the Dispatch published the story, Warren released a statement insisting that he had never been formally informed about the matter.

This even though Tete was informed about the findings on October 18 with Boxing SA delaying to take action against him.

One BSA member revealed that the regulatory body sat on the findings for two weeks while contemplating the next step. While this does not bode well for BSA, one can understand its delay, especially as the matter involved the best boxing export this country has produced in a long time.

Tete is held in high esteem abroad and this was further proven by the flood of inquires the Dispatch received since we broke the news.

This is not surprising taking into account his achievements which include winning the IBF junior bantamweight and WBO bantamweight title while also participating in the truncated World Super Boxing Series.

Tete epitomised professionalism, leading to him being used as an ambassador by several companies.

At 34 years he is now winding down his career and was looking to launch one final assault at the world title before riding into the sunset. Now he will have to sit at home for four years which will likely spell the end of his career.

He has demanded the test of a B-sample as he denies knowledge of the substance and the results are expected in a week’s time. However, those with intimate knowledge of the situation argue that testing the B-sample is simply delaying the inevitable.

Whichever way one looks at this saga, one has to sympathise with Tete and leave the debate on if or how the substance allegedly got into his body to the sports scientists.