Former world boxing champion denies taking 'any prohibited substance'

Former heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker has denied taking any banned substances after failing a drugs test.

Parker, 33, has said he is "confident" he will be cleared after a routine test given to the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency detected traces of cocaine. The test was taken on the day of the New Zealander's fight against Fabio Wardley, which the Briton won last month.

Parker is facing a two-year ban from the sport. "Before my recent fight I took a voluntary test and have now been informed that it returned an adverse result.

This came as a real surprise to me," Parker said in a statement on Instagram. "I did not take any prohibited substance, I do not use performance enhancing drugs and do not support their use.

"I am cooperating fully with the process now under way, and I am confident the investigation will clear my name. "Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support.

It means a great deal to me and my family. When the investigation is complete, I will speak openly and answer questions." The British Boxing Board of Control [BBBofC] has told Sky Sports it is "investigating" the matter.

Since his defeat to Joe Joyce in 2022, Parker had amassed six successive victories ahead of the Wardley fight, among them wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, and had secured the WBO interim title. He went into his fight against Wardley on 25 October in arguably the best form of his career.

The former world champion lost his belt to Anthony Joshua in 2018. Read more from Sky News:Joseph Parker tests positive for cocaineTrump confirms he will sue the BBC over Panorama edit Parker was due to face then-IBF champion Daniel Dubois in February, but the Briton fell ill just days before the fight.

He risked his status as the WBO mandatory challenger to undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk by accepting the fight with Wardley. "He was in line to fight Usyk.

He instead took a risky fight against Wardley, and now this is the headline," said Sky Sports Boxing expert Andy Scott. "Not only did he lose the fight, he now has this investigation that he will have to come out of and clear his name.

"It will be interesting to see how this develops further. There's a full investigation, we'll wait to see what the outcome is of that, but there is a possibility that he's facing a two-year ban.".