Lucas Browne expects positive B-Sample; Maintains innocence

WBA Heavyweight champion Lucas Browne expects his B-Sample drug test to come back positive following his March 5 title winning effort over Ruslan Chagaev, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I wish to make it clear that I have at this stage no reason to take issue with the VADA testing of me in and around this fight,” Browne said in a statement. “Given the result of the A sample, I have to believe that the B sample will (not) provide any different results.”

“I was subjected to a randomly timed drug test by VADA. This was a test of blood and urine,” Browne said. “The post-fight test was a urine-only test. I would like to again stress it was myself and my team who requested the bout be subject to VADA testing. I now hold clear and unequivocal evidence that this test was a negative test and shows clearly that I arrived in Chechnya a clean athlete.

“Following that clean test I ate only at the hotel in which we were hosted (and) at the meal following the boxers’ media weigh-in. The water I drank on the night of the fight was sealed bottled water. My team’s investigation will now concentrate on the period of time between the clean test on Feb. 29 and the fight itself on March 5. I maintain that I did not knowingly consume any banned substance, including the Clenbuterol found in my system in that time.

“My team have worked tirelessly in support of me, and I thank them for this and their unwavering faith in me. I thank the public for their understanding and support of the situation I find myself in. I will continue to do all that I can to clear my name.”

“We support Lucas Browne entirely when he states that he did not knowingly place anything within his body containing any banned substance in the period between Feb. 29 and the fight,” Hatton Promotions said in a statement. “We are concentrating our further investigations on this period. Hatton Promotions have been through a great deal with Lucas Browne. Together we overcame many hurdles to get his chance to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world within just four years.

“Lucas himself overcame significant hurdles on the night itself to become victorious. We would remind everyone that the sixth round, Lucas’ most difficult of the fight having been on the floor, was extended by some 36 seconds by the timekeeper in Chechnya to give their champion extra time to try to end the fight. Clearly that was intentional and Lucas overcame it. We will do all that we can to overcome this newest hurdle to ensure justice prevails and Lucas has our complete support in this regard.”