LONDON (AP) 鈥� Heavyweight title contender Lawrence Okolie failed a drugs test ahead of his fight scheduled Saturday against former Olympic champion .
The bout鈥檚 promoter Queensberry without giving further details about the case, and later in Paris.
Okolie : 鈥淚 will of course be fully cooperating with all relevant authorities and I鈥檓 confident any investigation will clear my name.鈥�
The 33-year-old British boxer faces a ban of up to four years unless he can prove he was not to blame for the positive doping test.
Okolie is a former world champion at cruiserweight who moved up to heavyweight. He is the No. 1-ranked contender by the WBC whose belt is held by
鈥淚 truly hope sense prevails,鈥� Okolie wrote Tuesday. 鈥淏efore 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 we are here.鈥�
Queensberry said Okolie was tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) ahead of the Paris show at Porte de La Chapelle.
Okolie鈥檚 intended opponent Yoka took the super-heavyweight gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Yoka served a one-year ban imposed by the French anti-doping agency in 2018 for failing to give a doping sample three times in a one-year period.
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