Boxing
Dillian Whyte passed other drug tests before and after fight vs. Oscar Rivas, report says
Dillian Whyte tested negative for banned substances just before and after his fight vs. Oscar Rivas for the interim WBC heavyweight title on July 20, ESPN.com reported Aug. 1.
Tests on Whyte by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) on July 17 and July 21 came back negative. VADA also tested Rivas on those days, and those tests were clean, as well. The agency informed the fighters of its results Aug. 1 in a letter obtained by ESPN's Dan Rafael.
United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD), which was also conducting testing for the fight, detected the steroid Dianabol in Whyte in a test taken June 17. UKAD did not inform VADA of its results prior to the fight, Rafael reported, even though UKAD learned of the positive test during fight week.
UKAD had not responded to Rafael's report as of Aug. 1.
Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) overcame a knockdown to win a 12-round unanimous decision. The WBC stripped him of the interim title 10 days later after seeing reports of the failed UKAD test. The sanctioning body said it will investigate the matter. Whyte said on Twitter that he beat Rivas "fair and square."
Whyte, 31, was suspended for two years in 2012 after testing positive for methylhexaneamine. He said at the time that he did not knowingly ingest the drug.
