Maccarinelli banned until October 18th!

Maccarinelli in his fight with Shane McPhilbin.

Former WBO cruiserweight world champ Enzo Maccarinelli has been announced as another fighter that can be added to the long list of drug-cheats in our sport. The 31-year old Welshman tested positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA) after his fight with Shane McPhilbin on March 23rd. At first we all thought it was just rumours but UK Anti-Doping have confirmed that it actually is true.

Maccarinelli has received a six-month ban that will last until October 18th, as it was backdated to April 19th.

"This is a timely reminder that no matter what your sport, under the principle of strict liability athletes must exercise extreme caution over what they put into their body," said UK Anti-Doping Chief Executive Andy Parkinson.

"With this in mind, Olympic athletes should be aware that they are now in competition July 16th until August 12th and could be tested at any time, anywhere. MHA is available in a range of supplement products, is banned in competition, and can often be listed under a number of different names."

"UK Anti-Doping continues to work closely with the British Boxing Board of Control to maintain the integrity of the sport."

This type of thing is becoming a regularity in our sport today. Maccarinelli is not the first well-known fighter to test positive for a banned substance and he will most likely not be the last. At first we just thought it was happening in America with the likes of Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto failing tests, but recently a number of British fighters have been testing positive.

Two things need to happen; many boxers claim that they didn't know what they were taking so somebody needs to take control and educate the fighters and their trainers on what is legal and what isn't. And then if anyone fails a test they should be banned for life. Once they have been educated properly, they have no excuse.