By Terence Dooley
The UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) has banned British super flyweight contender and former English champion at the weight, John Donnelly, until 26 November 2014. ‘UK Anti-Doping has today confirmed that professional boxer John Donnelly has been suspended from all competition for two years following an anti-doping rule violation. Mr Donnelly tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, following an in-competition test on 9 November 2012 and was provisionally suspended from all competition on 27 November 2012,’ explained the UKAD in a statement released earlier today.
The “In-competition” testing period begins ‘twelve hours before a competition and finishes at the end of any associated testing’, which means that the athlete should not have a prohibited substance in their system at this time and, if caught, faces a stiff two-year ban. Donnelly, 13-3 (3), will now have to cope with a long spell on the side lines. His positive test was taken the same night he lost in a single round to fellow Liverpudlian Paul Butler in a fight to contest the vacant British super flyweight title. The 28-year-old had won the English belt in his previous fight, a 10-round decision win over Mike Robinson in March of last year, but was wiped out by a left hook to the body from Butler.
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