Parker: Nutritionist's Cocaine Caused My Failed Test
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- Joseph Parker claimed exposure to cocaine used by his nutritionist caused his adverse analytical finding for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, after a routine UKAD test taken shortly after his October 25, 2025 defeat to Fabio Wardley in London.
- UKAD confirmed on Thursday that Parker was free to resume his career after an independent scientific expert concluded any cocaine ingestion most likely occurred out of competition, before 11:59pm on October 24, 2025.
- UKAD imposed a three-month period of ineligibility, deemed already served, rather than the up-to-two-year suspension Parker initially faced; the body lifted his Provisional Suspension on June 22, 2026.
- The independent scientific expert said oral contamination from Parker's nutritionist — who admitted daily cocaine use the week before the Wardley bout — was possible, but could not exclude "the tail end of the administration of a larger pharmacologically active dose of cocaine."
- Parker's nutritionist, whom Parker first worked with in April 2023, told UKAD he was "a regular user of cocaine" who used the drug daily in the week leading up to the bout.
- The result of Parker's bout against Fabio Wardley — originally an 11th-round stoppage loss for the Brit — is now recorded as a defeat by disqualification rather than knockout.
Why it matters: Parker's clearance preserves his WBO mandatory challenger position for undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk, restoring a marquee heavyweight path that hinged on the ruling. The scientific expert could not fully rule out a larger active cocaine dose, and Parker's loss to Wardley is now officially a disqualification rather than a knockout on his record.
