Finnish heavyweight Robert Helenius will be sidelined for the ring until 2025 after UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) decided to hand him a ban of two years. The ban will count from when Helenius’ provisional suspension had started last year, which was imposed on Helenius on September 18th in 2023 after he had tested positive for Clomiphene following his August 12th match against Anthony Joshua in 2023―which he ended up losing by knockout (KO).
UKAD released a statement earlier today where they explained their decision to ban Robert Helenius (32-5, 21 KO’s), citing that Helenius had failed to offer evidence of his claims of Clomiphene entering his system due to the consumption of eggs and meat. The ban will see Helenius unable to compete in any professional bout in any country that applies the standards and rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The anti-doping organization’s decision to ban Helenius until September 17th, 2025, shows a remarkable shift from how the case of British fighter Conor Benn (23-0 ,14 KO’s) had been handled, with him receiving a provisional suspension in 2023 and again in 2024 without him yet having to answer to a definitive ban. However, their decision to ban Helenius does not indicate UKAD has been consistent as it pertains to boxing.
Just last month, the UKAD was involved in an embarrassing fumble of a decision by imposing a ban on Mexican fighter Moises Calleros for the use of Cocaine. It would later turn out that Calleros had been deceased for several months, and further drove questions as to UKAD’s competence as an organization given the use of Cocaine is considered to be less effective in enhancing a fighter’s performance than substances more indicative of performance-enhancing qualities.
While Helenius’ two-year ban can deter other combatants fighting in the UK from using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), the shadow of their decision to posthumously ban Calleros continues to hang over the UKAD and draws questions as to why Helenius had not been faced with a lengthier ban from the sport.
With the UKAD having opted to address their mistake with Calleros with just a simple statement painted as an apology, more clarifications are needed for UKAD to recover their lost reputation after failing to disclose their reasoning for handing 4-year bans for Cocaine use while actual PED-users are not handled with the same level of stringency.
