IT WASN’T ME

Ten excuses (besides eggs) for failed tests...

1 BLAME YOUR BROTHER

In May 2015, Barry Awad, better known as Kid Galahad, was banned for two years after one of his drug tests showed traces of stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. He blamed his brother for spiking his protein shake.

2 BLAME AN UNCASTRATED WILD BOAR

Tyson Fury was charged by UK Anti-doping “with presence of a prohibited substance” from a sample taken in February 2015. The substance was nandrolone, an anabolic steroid with tissue-building properties Fury believed was present in an uncastrated wild boar he had eaten.

3 BLAME DIRTY BEEF

In March 2018, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, the biggest star in the sport, tested positive for clenbuterol, a drug often used to increase muscle mass and cardiovascular output. He blamed the result on eating contaminated beef and served a measly six-month ban.

4 BLAME ASTHMA

“Let’s Go, Champ! Let’s Go, Champ!” For a man with breathing difficulties Shannon Briggs sure did like to talk a lot. That said, asthma comes in handy when elevated levels of testosterone show up in your drug test, as was the case with Briggs in 2017.

5 BLAME A BLOCKED NOSE

In 2018, Billy Joe Saunders saw a fight against Demetrius Andrade disappear when he tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine. His team said the substance came from a “common decongestant nasal spray” and did not contravene to UKAD regulations when used “out of competition”.

6 BLAME HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

It was reported in 2017 that Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz had failed a drug test for chlorothiazide, a diuretic used to not only treat high blood pressure but also as a masking agent for performance-enhancing drugs.

7 BLAME RUSSIA

Lucas Browne said he was clean when he went to Chechnya to KO Ruslan Chagaev, the home favourite, in 2016, but somehow returned to news of a failed test for clenbuterol.

8 BLAME THE ILLUMINATI

After failing a PED test for synthetic testosterone following his 2015 fight against Steve Cunningham, Antonio Tarver said, “It’s a frame job. I don’t know what or who’s behind this crap. But all I know is I’m clean.”

9 BLAME LOW TESTOSTERONE

Boxers are typically full of testosterone, but Lamont Peterson, struggling in this department, saw nothing wrong with using synthetic testosterone ahead of an aborted 2012 fight with Amir Khan.

10 BLAME THE GAME

Heavyweight Larry Olubamiwo took the “can’t beat them, join them” concept to the extreme in 2012. He confessed to taking 13 illegal substances and then blamed everyone else for pressuring him into following their lead.