BANGKOK, Thailand – The WBC have announced changes to their Clean Boxing Program which will take effect from February 1, 2026. Those changes, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Boxing Scene, are designed to prevent boxers from claiming they unknowingly ingested a banned substance through a supplement or equivalent.
There have been numerous cases in recent years, whether Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2017 or Subrial Matias as recently as November, when high-level fighters have failed PED tests only to then insist the findings are a mystery and, thus, must have been caused by contamination to their diet or a supplement they have taken.
The issue is again at the forefront of attention with Matias being permitted to go ahead with the defence of his WBC junior-welterweight title against Dalton Smith in New York on January 10, despite testing positive for ostarine on November 15. The levels of ostarine in his system are reported to be lower than the amount that commissions in New York, Nevada and California would deem illegal, hence the contest remains in place.
Should the test have occurred after the new protocols have been put in place, however, Matias may not have been so lucky.
The WBC, following “long and extensive” scientific investigations, have formulated a list of products that they know are at risk of contamination. From February, every boxer who is enrolled in the Clean Boxing Program – and to be ranked in the top 15 by the WBC, enrolment is mandatory – will be informed of those supplements at risk. Therefore, says Sulaiman, there can be no excuses when a performance-enhancing drugs test is failed.
“They’re in danger of having an adverse finding [if they take a supplement on the list] and because they were aware of the danger [of taking a supplement containing a banned substance] the case against them is much stronger,” Sulaiman explained to BoxingScene. “They will no longer be able to claim that they did not know they could have it [in their system].
“Today they claim, and rightfully so, that they didn’t know. But now they know this is a potential risk of getting an anti-doping violation.”
The Clean Boxing Program, though the only one of its kind in the sport, has been criticized because it is commonplace for a failed test to occur and no punishment to follow. Frequently, whether herbal tea or protein powder, the case for innocence rests on a particular substance or foodstuff the boxer has ingested.
“All these cases [of positive tests], the boxer discloses what they are taking,” Sulaiman went on. “They are not hiding it. When we do a test, the boxer taking that test will be given a form that asks them to [stipulate] what they are using right now.
“The boxer will then write down all the supplements they are taking. They sign it; they do the test. When there is an adverse finding, we look at that list and we can see that [in many cases] the supplement that we know [can be contaminated] has been listed. He didn’t know. Then we investigate further. But now they can’t claim they didn’t know. It will be much stricter. They can no longer claim they didn’t know.”
It is a positive step though the danger, of course, is that new products will come to market that are not listed among the WBC guidelines that a fighter might claim to have been contaminated.
“There will still be issues,” Sulaiman said before suggesting that new supplements will be examined as they come to market. “Doping is very complicated and each substance is different and the education will be ongoing. This new protocol is key. Every boxer who enrols on the Clean Boxing Program will now know the expectations of them. We will ensure there can be no mistakes made.
“The Program is eight years old; it was perhaps a little dated. This represents a significant improvement.”