Mexican WBA super bantamweight champion Erika Cruz has tested positive for the banned substance of Stanozolol according to sports journalist Dan Rafael, related to her May 11th match against Argentinian contender Nazarena Romero which ended in a split-decision draw. The drug tests were conducted by Drug Free Sport, the same organization that last year discovered Alycia Baumgardner’s tests to have contained an illegal substance.
Erika Cruz (17-2-1, 3 KO’s) tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, with16b-hydroxystanozolol and 3′-hydroxystanozolol being the metabolites that were specifically identified. Stanozolol is considered a banned substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which clearly identifies it as a anabolic steroid or agent.
The event was held in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes and overseen by the boxing commission of Aguascalientes which is more commonly known as the Aguascalientes Boxing Commission. Similar to the recent Ryan Garcia PED case, the process of determining the B-samples’ findings will commence, whereafter the appropriate punishment will be handed out if the B-samples confirm the presence of Stanozolol. The urine test revealed Stanozolol to have been in Cruz’ system since April 29th, roughly two weeks before she defended her WBA super bantamweight title against Nazarena Romero (13-0-2, 7 KO’s) on May 11th.
With Cruz’ match against Romero having ended in a draw, the fight stands poised to be ruled a no-contest depending on the Aguascalientes commission’s ruling following the testing of Cruz’ B-samples and any potential hearing they might hold with the Mexican champion.
The WBA itself can also interfere based on the results of the B-samples, and are in the position to strip Cruz of her WBA 122 lbs title. However, given the WBA has shown to be prominently inconsistent for over a year, this decision might not be set in stone.
The news may not come as much of a surprise as Matchroom, who signed Erika Cruz in 2021, has had a number of fighters under its roster or fighting on its cards end up testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) over the past year. Notoriously, both Dillian Whyte (30-3, 20 KO’s) and Robert Helenius (32-5, 21 KO’s), two opponents that were set to face Matchroom fighter Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO’s), have tested positive for PEDs while set to compete on a Matchroom card.
Helenius’ positive drug test coming out after he faced Joshua in a losing effort. Whyte tested positive before facing Joshua, allowing Helenius to step in as a replacement opponent. This year, Whyte claimed to have cleared his name and has thus far been allowed to compete as normal.
Matchroom signees Alycia Baumgardner (15-1, 7 KO’s) and Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KO’s) have also tested positive for banned substances in the past, with Benn currently provisionally suspended by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) while Baumgardner managed to clear her name of intentional doping.
Drug Free Sport (DFS), the organization that conducted the drug tests for Cruz and Romero, is no stranger to controversy, having been sued approximately a decade ago for improper handling of a test concerning an unnamed NFL player. The PED case concerning Alycia Baumgardner, in which DFS had been used to conduct drug tests, was also not clear-cut, with it still being unclear when exactly the organization had knowledge of Baumgardner’s failed tests―with there being some suspicions the DFS had known about Baumgardner failing a drug test prior to entering the ring against Christina Linardatou (14-3, 6 KO’s) on July 15, 2023.
