Warren: Saunders to vacate WBO title to challenge refusal of licence

Billy Joe Saunders will vacate his WBO middleweight title to challenge the decision to deny him a licence to fight Demetrius Andrade, according to his promoter Frank Warren.

The 29-year-old was refused a licence for the fight that had been scheduled for October 20 in Boston because of an adverse finding in a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) test that took place in August.

America’s Andrade will instead fight Namibia’s little-known Walter Kautondokwa for the vacant title.

The WBO said Saunders had the right to appeal against the decision taken by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission (MSAC) in an attempt to retain it, but he will instead focus on challenging them regarding the licence in court.

“Billy Joe will, with a heavy heart, relinquish his world title while this issue is being resolved,” Warren said in a statement on his official website.

The adverse finding had been for the stimulant oxilofrine, which Warren says was in a “common decongestant nasal spray”, and the fighter has maintained he is a “clean fighter to the bone”.

Oxilofrine is only banned in competition in the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), meaning that fighters are only in breach of regulations if it is found in their system on the day of a fight. VADA prohibits it at all times.

The promoter insists it was “not a failed test” because the MSAC, which oversees licencing in Boston, did not follow WADA’s rules.

“Unlike the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), 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,” Warren’s statement continued.

“Cases such as these can take a considerable time to be heard and adjudicated on and, given the damaging effect these accusations of wrongdoing have had on Billy Joe, he is in no position to continue in his profession until such a time as his name has been cleared.”

Saunders was fined £100,000 by the British Boxing Board of Control for misconduct in September because of a video in which he appeared to offer a woman £150 worth of drugs to perform a sex act and punch a passer-by. He apologised for the incident.