Saunders vacates middleweight title after Banned Substance situation

WBO Middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders vacated his world title after being denied a license in Massachusetts to defend against Demetrius Andrade on October 20th.

“B.J. Saunders has voluntarily vacated the WBO middleweight title and publicly apologized for his violation of the Massachusetts Athletic Commission’s anti-doping regulations,” WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel said. “Therefore, the clash between Demetrius Andrade and Walter Kautondonkwa scheduled for Oct. 20 will now be for the vacant world crown.

“Also, I will recommend to the WBO executive committee that Saunders receives a six-month suspension for his transgression. But he has to do more. He has to work with the kids there [in England] at the boys’ club, do community service, and then he has to be tested randomly and be negative all of the time. He needs a recommendation from the British Boxing Board of Control [to have the suspension lifted], and if he does all that, we are willing to put him back in the rankings after his suspension.”

Valcarcel said Saunders sent the WBO a letter to vacate the title and said that “he doesn’t have time to appeal and for that reason he relinquished the title.” Saunders could have gone through the WBO’s appeals process, but based on the sanctioning body’s typical response to similar incidents, he likely would have been stripped.

“He had the right to present all the evidence, but at the end he had to face the positive test,” Valcarcel said.

“The MSAC, in their decision to deny a license to Billy Joe, have willfully refused to properly apply the code of [the World Anti-Doping Association] to their ruling,” Frank Warren, Saunders’ promoter, said in a statement. “Further, the MSAC refused to properly consider submissions from Billy Joe’s representative despite him being present at the hearing.

“Unlike the British Boxing Board of Control, the MSAC is a state appointed governing body and therefore the decision will be appealed and challenged in the superior court at the earliest opportunity. Because of the mental anguish brought about by this case and out of respect for the WBO, Billy Joe will with a heavy heart relinquish his world title, whilst this issue is in the process of being resolved.”