Lawrence Okolie Fails Drugs Test, Heavyweight Bout vs Tony Yoka Cancelled

Lawrence Okolie has pledged to clear his name after a failed drugs test that has led to the cancellation of his heavyweight bout against Tony Yoka this weekend. The British fighter, a former cruiserweight world champion who moved up to heavyweight, had been scheduled to face the Frenchman in Paris on Saturday. Okolie is the No 1-ranked contender by the WBC, whose belt is held by Oleksandr Usyk. In an announcement, the promoter Queensberry wrote: "Last night the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (Vada) informed Queensberry that Lawrence Okolie returned an adverse finding following an anti-doping test conducted ahead of the show. A ­further update regarding the event will be made in due course." Queensberry later added: "Due to circumstances outside of our control, Queensberry and Dazn have regrettably made the decision to cancel this Saturday's scheduled event in Paris." In a personal post on Instagram, Okolie wrote: "Before anyone starts imagining the worst, following my bicep injury last year, I sustained an elbow injury on the same arm during this camp. I had a treatment on it and now here we are. I truly hope sense prevails. I will of course be fully co-operating with all the relevant authorities and I'm confident any investigation will clear my name." Tuesday's press conference scheduled to take place in Paris to promote the bout was cancelled at the last minute before the fight was also called off. Yoka, who has a professional record of 15 victories and three defeats, took the super-heavyweight gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He served a one-year ban imposed by the French anti-doping agency in 2018 for failing to give a doping sample three times in one year.