There has been plenty of talk about drug testing in boxing in recent weeks, and now one well-known fighter has admitted he wasn’t tested at all before his recent bout with a former Olympic heavyweight.
Last year, British boxing was blighted with the failed test of Conor Benn ahead of his domestic grudge match with Chris Eubank Jr, and off the back of that more recently several other fighters have failed tests.
Robert Helenius turned up an adverse finding in one of his samples before being knocked out by Anthony Joshua, and he was already a late replacement for Dillian Whyte who was removed from the card after failing his own test in the build-up. Following that, it was revealed Alycia Baumgardner had tested positive before her fight in July.
All three of those fighters were on Matchroom cards, and Eddie Hearn has vowed to do more testing than ever in order to weed out any would-be cheats, as well as calling out who he sees as hypocrites over the matter.
Hearn’s comments were largely directed at BOXXER and Ben Shalom, who was questioned during fight week for Liam Smith’s rematch with Eubank Jr as to why there was no Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency involvement – regarded by most as ‘the gold standard’ of testing in the sport.
Shalom assured the media that both main event fighters had been tested thoroughly by the UK Anti-Doping Agency.
Now, in the wake of his recent fight with Frazer Clarke on that card, Dave Allen has admitted on his Instagram that he was not tested at all for the clash.
“There was no drug testing at all, to be honest, which I was surprised by. I’m a clean athlete and always have been and I’m of the opinion Frazer Clarke is as well but there was no testing for the fight, leading up to it or on the night.”
Dave Allen has revealed that he was not tested AT ALL for his fight with Frazer Clarke.
Not in camp, not in the fight week nor after the fight
@NoSmokeSport will be asking numerous fighters how many times they've been tested, for a story in the coming weeks.
(?️ Dave Allen IG) pic.twitter.com/UMg5So3VLr
— EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) September 5, 2023
Fans and promoters believe the debate surrounding the card and its testing would be solved by one overriding and mandatory anti-doping body throughout the sport – how or when that might happen is another question entirely.
