SLOWEY’S CAREER IN RUINS AFTER HIS SECOND DRUG BAN

GLASGOW fighter Jon Slowey has been banned for three years after testing positive for cocaine. The 26-year-old featherweight confessed to a UK antidoping tribunal that he had struggled with ‘alcohol and cocaine’ and ‘wasn’t living like a professional’ while under curfew as the result of a court case. And he even claimed he’d been close to pulling out of a title bout when his use of the Class A drug was flagged — but that he ‘needed the money’ from the contest. Slowey, who has since been in rehab to tackle depression that left him suicidal, has received a hefty suspension because this was the second time recreational drugs had shown up in his samples. His hopes of representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi were scuppered when he tested positive for cannabis during the run-up to the 2010 event, resulting in a four-month ban for his first offence. Yesterday, UKAD revealed that the boxer had tested positive for trace elements of metabolites found in cocaine following last September’s failed attempt to win the European featherweight title. Following his unanimous points defeat by Carmine Tommasone, Slowey provided a sample that showed up as positive. In his own written submission to UKAD, Slowey explained: ‘In the last six months my life hasn’t been the best. I was and still am involved in a court case.’ It was accepted that Slowey did not intend to gain a sporting advantage by taking illegal substances.