Billy Joe Saunders has been refused a boxing license by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission to defend his WBO middleweight title against Demetrius Andrade.
His fight with Andrade, which had been due to take place on 20 October in Boston, has now been scrapped, while it is highly likely the WBO will strip him of his world middleweight title.
Saunders returned an adverse finding in a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (Vada) test in August. His promoter, Frank Warren, said that the substance — the stimulant stimulant oxilofrine — was a “common decongestant nasal spray”.
Under World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) rules, oxilofrine is only banned in competition, meaning a fighter is only in breach of rules if the substance is detected in his stem on the day of the a bout.
However it is prohibited at all times by Vada, with the Massachusetts Commission therefore denying him a licence to box.
The WBO is yet to make an official statement but last month the president of the organisation, Paco Valcarcel, said that Saunders would be stripped of his belt if the fight did not go ahead.
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who promotes Andrade, has previously said that he would aim to secure a bout for the vacant bout in the event of the WBO stripping Saunders.
Andrade is now expected to fight the WBO’s No 2 ranked middleweight Walter Kautondokwa for the vacant title instead.
The news will come as another blow to Saunders, 29, who has endured a torrid nine months since so comprehensively defeating David Lemieux in Quebec, in one of the all-time great performances from a British boxer on foreign soil.
In September, Saunders was fined £100k by the British Boxing Board of Control for misconduct after a video was shared online in which the fighter offers a woman £150 worth of drugs to perform a sex act.
Saunders apologised for the video and described it as “banter gone wrong”.
