Parker’s positive cocaine test caused by nutritionist, doping body says

What the report says

Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker has been cleared to return to boxing after serving a three-month ban, following an anti-doping case that UK Anti-Doping said was linked to exposure to cocaine through a nutritionist he hired before his bout with Fabio Wardley. According to Al Jazeera’s report, Parker, 34, tested positive in connection with the night of his shock loss to Wardley in London in October 2025.

UKAD said Parker gave evidence in March 2026 claiming the adverse finding came from contact with cocaine used by the nutritionist. The agency said the nutritionist was a regular cocaine user and had used the drug daily in the week before the fight. UKAD added that Parker’s ingestion occurred out of competition and in a context unrelated to performance in sport, which led to the lifting of his provisional suspension.

Parker has denied knowingly taking any banned substance. He had also been tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on the day of the fight, and UKAD said he later failed its own test in the early hours of the following day. The decision means the New Zealander is now free to compete again.

The case matters because Parker was a leading heavyweight contender and had been WBO mandatory challenger before the Wardley defeat. He previously held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018, before losing it to Anthony Joshua.