MOSCOW, July 27 (R-Sport) – Panamanian boxer Guillermo Jones tested positive for a banned substance after knocking out Russia’s Denis Lebedev in the WBA world cruiserweight title fight in May, the vice president of the Russian Boxing Federation said Saturday.
Andrey Ryabinsky wrote in a pair of Twitter posts he has received an “official letter” from the WBA containing test results from RUSADA, Russia’s anti-doping agency, taken after the May 17 bout in Moscow.
“Many were under the impression that in the May 17 fight with Lebedev, Guillermo Jones was peculiarly strong and tenacious,” said Ryabinsky, referring to speculation in Russian media hours later that Jones had used a banned substance to overpower Lebedev.
A statement posted on the WBA website Friday said a diuretic substance called Furosemide was discovered in the initial test of one of the fighters, who was not identified, and a "B" sample has been sent for testing.
The Panama-based WBA could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.
Doping accusations have dogged the 41-year-old Jones, who is represented by controversial promoter Don King, since he defeated Lebedev in the 11th round, pounding the Russian to the point where his right eye was gruesomely swollen to the size of a golf ball. Jones had not fought since defending his cruiserweight title against Michael Marrone in November, 2011, prompting disbelief he was able to muster the stamina to withstand the younger, more athletic Lebedev.
In the fight's aftermath, some Russian media reported Jones had refused to take the doping test, a claim quickly shot down by WBA executive vice president Gilberto Mendoza. But according to Lebedev's then-manager Vlad Hrunov, RUSADA testing had been delayed for several hours because of a discrepancy between the notoriously brash King and a RUSADA representative.
With the win, Jones's record sits at 39-3 with two draws and 31 KOs. He first won the WBA cruiserweight title in 2008 but was stripped of the belt last year for arranging only two title defenses in four years.
Lebedev, meanwhile, fell to 25-2, was hospitalized for a week and, in the fall out, fired Hrunov, one of the highest-profile names in Russian boxing. Lebedev has since demanded a rematch with Jones.
