The last man to fight Dillian Whyte before the Brixton heavyweight failed a drugs test has said ‘it’s b***shit’ that so many fighters are getting caught taking banned substances.
34-year-old Whyte has now returned adverse findings in three separate drug tests across his career – the first was in 2012 when he received a two-year ban after a panel accepted he did not knowingly take the substance in question.
The second was in 2019, but he was ultimately cleared, and the third was in the run-up to his proposed rematch with Anthony Joshua in August.
He was removed from the card and replaced with Robert Helenius, with an investigation seemingly ongoing. Helenius would go on to fail a test of his own, with the results only revealed after the Joshua fight had taken place.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Jermaine Franklin, who lost to Whyte on points in November 2022, was asked for his views on the recent spate of failed tests.
“I think it’s b***shit honestly, we gotta start doing something about it, cracking down on it or something, cause they keep doing it, they know how to mask it, and some of them never get caught, or don’t get caught for a long time.”
He went to share the dangers of drug users in boxing and what it means for opponents.
“People die in this sport, it’s not basketball, it’s not baseball, ya’ll in here causing harm to each other and your here taking drugs that making you two-times, three-times stronger. That’s not fair to the rest of us, we getting brain damage, we gotta go home, we got families we trying to provide for.”
Finally, he called on the commission to start doing more to punish drug cheats.
“A suspension for a year’s not nothing, he’s rich already, he gonna come back and fight someone next year. He only fights once a year anyway so that suspension ain’t doing shit.”
Those are sentiments many in boxing share, and 2023 has highlighted issues with both the testing, reporting and due process in the sport.