Beleaguered South African boxer Francois Botha has questioned the accuracy of a pre-fight drugs test that revealed banned stimulants.
Former All Black Sonny Bill Williams secured a contentious unanimous points decision over the South African in their World Boxing Association heavyweight title fight in Brisbane on Friday night – an outcome facilitated by the bout being confined to 10 rounds rather than the advertised 12.
The test, which was taken last Tuesday, found that Botha was using the banned stimulant phentermine. His urine sample also found traces of the suppressant benzodiazepines, which is found in products like valium, a pathology report obtained by Fairfax Media showed.
The report from QML Pathology in Brisbane shows the results were not known until 11.44am on Saturday, the day after the fight, which was awarded to Williams on a unanimous points decision.
A copy of the report has been forwarded to WBA headquarters in Panama, which will decide what action to take.
As Queensland does not have compulsory drugs testing for boxers, the test was conducted independently and not by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.
The 44-year-old former world champion was previously stripped of the International Boxing Federation title in 1996 after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone, which his camp claimed was prescribed for an arm injury. – stuff
