By Terence Dooley 

Dillian "The Villian" Whyte’s UKAD doping ban expired at midnight on Sunday and the undefeated heavyweight is targeting a November return. 
 
Whyte, 9-0 (6KOs), was handed the two-year sanction after testing positive for Methylhexaneamine following his last fight, a fourth-round TKO win over Sandor Balogh in Oct. '12. He argued that the positive test stemmed from his use of an over-the-counter supplement called Jack3D, which was banned in the U.K. in August '12.
 
The ban was an in-performance one, so the UKAD recommended a severe punishment in light of the 26-year-old’s admission that he took the supplement on the day of the fight to give him an energy boost.  The UKAD decided that: “[O]n a literal interpretation his consumption of the Jack3d product was to his enhance his sport performance”.
 
A subsequent appeal failed as Whyte could not argue that he should be given a lesser ban under UKAD’s Article 10.5.2 rule, which states: “If a Participant establishes in an individual case that he or she bears No Significant Fault or Negligence for the Anti-Doping Rule Violation charged, then the period of Ineligibility may be reduced, but the reduced period of Ineligibility may not be less than one-half of the minimum period of Ineligibility otherwise applicable...When the Anti-Doping Rule Violation charged is an Article 2.1 Violation... the Athlete must also establish how the Prohibited Substance entered his/her system in order to have the period of Ineligibility reduced.”
 
It was a tough blow for Whyte, who used the supplement after a friend recommended it to him and did not know it was on the banned list; however, he can now put it behind him and resume his promising career.  The undefeated fighter beat and floored Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Joshua in an amateur contest; he is a welcome addition to a domestic heavyweight roster that has been enlivened by the recent additions of Joshua and Hughie Fury.
 
Whyte continued to train throughout his ban.  The talented fighter will no doubt want to get busy, pick up titles and try to secure a professional meeting with Joshua, who battered Denis Bakhtov to a second-round TKO loss at the O2 Arena on Saturday night to move to 9-0 (9KOs).  A meeting with Whyte would certainly pique the interest of British boxing fans.
 
Please send news and views to @Terryboxing