Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon has been caught cheating again.
Former light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver tested positive for synthetic testosterone prior to his fight with Steve Cunningham last August on Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions series according to sources reporting to Sports Illustrated.
Advanced drug testing was utilized for the fight. When Tarver’s ‘A’ sample tested positive, he requested that his ‘B’ sample be tested, and it was no different.
Tarver tested positive for an anabolic steroid in 2012 leading up to his fight with Lateef Kayode, a bout in which he also looked dismal as he fought to a draw, and the California State Athletic Commission ruled the affair a ‘No Decision.’
The CSAC fined Tarver $2,500 and suspended him for a year as a result of the test, but any punishment this time around will come from the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board.
Tarver will likely see a severe penalty.
This is the same commission that ruled to indefinitely suspend the three judges involved in the controversial Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara fight back in 2011.
Williams was awarded a majority decision victory despite Lara dominating the fight.
Following a successful co-starring role in the sixth installment of the Rocky series, “Rocky Balboa,” Tarver was inspired to become World heavyweight champion.
He left the light-heavyweight division for good in 2010 and has not lost a fight in six years, but after another positive test, his dreams of fighting for a world title against the likes of Deontay Wilder and Wladimir Klitschko, are likely over. And with that, his career as well.
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