According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, new WBA Heavyweight champion, Lucas Browne failed a post fight drug test following his winning effort over Ruslan Chagaev on March 5 in Russia.
Browne, whose status as the first Australian heavyweight to win a world title is in jeopardy, tested positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol in a urine test conducted by the Las Vegas-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, which conducted the testing for the fight.
ESPN.com obtained a copy of the letter in which VADA president Dr. Margaret Goodman wrote, “This letter is to advise you that the ‘A’ sample urine specimen number 2998060 collected from Lucas Browne … has been analyzed for anabolic agents, diuretics, beta-2 agonists and stimulants. The results of the analysis are as follows: Adverse. Urine specimen contains Clenbuterol.”
Goodman went on to write, “Mr. Browne has the right to promptly request analysis of the ‘B’ sample at his expense.”
“I am not a drug user or a drug cheat,” Browne said in a statement released through his promoters. “I will be fighting for as long as it takes to clear my name.”
Said his promoter, Ricky Hatton: “We believe Lucas Browne to be a clean athlete who arrived in Chechnya a clean athlete. We are therefore conducting our own further investigations and cannot comment further at this time.”
“`My team and I were well aware of the many risks involved in going to a place like Chechnya to fight a reigning champion and believed we had taken sufficient precautions,” he said. “In addition it was at our insistence that VADA testing was implemented for the fight.”