Joseph Parker to return after drugs ban lifted
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- Joseph Parker confirmed his provisional suspension has been lifted and said he'll be back 'soon,' in a Wednesday statement, advising he can say no more while details are finalised.
- The suspension stemmed from a Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency test taken on the day of his 11th-round stoppage defeat by Fabio Wardley at The O2 last October, which returned traces of cocaine.
- Parker, 34, denied taking any banned substances and could have faced up to a two-year ban from boxing under British Boxing Board of Control rules.
- Robert Smith, General Secretary of the BBBofC, confirmed the suspension was lifted when contacted by Sky Sports News but declined to comment further.
- Entering the Wardley fight, Parker was in arguably the best form of his career — six straight wins since a 2022 loss to Joe Joyce, including statement victories over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang and the WBO Interim strap.
- Parker had been due to challenge then-IBF holder Daniel Dubois in February before Dubois fell ill, and the Wardley gamble — staking his WBO mandatory challenger position to undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk — backfired.
Why it matters: Parker's reinstatement puts a 34-year-old former world champion back in the heavyweight mix after a single failed test rather than a two-year ban. He surrenders his WBO mandatory spot to Usyk but exits the saga with his career intact, just months removed from a six-fight run that included wins over Wilder and Zhang.
