Robert Helenius banned for two years for failing drug test after last year’s fight with Anthony Joshua | Boxing News

Robert Helenius has been handed a two-year ban for failing a drug test after his fight with Anthony Joshua last year.

A UK Anti-Doping test detected the presence of clomifene, a substance prohibited at all times.

He was initially given a provisional suspension but argued that the clomifene in his urine sample must have originated from eggs and chicken meat.

“However, following a request by UKAD, Mr Helenius was unable to provide any evidence that the eggs and chicken meat he had consumed in advance of the bout originated from hens that had been administered clomifene,” UKAD said in a statement.

“Mr Helenius was therefore unable to identify the source of clomifene in his sample and therefore unable to reduce the applicable period of ineligibility of two years.”

Helenius actually came into his August 12 fight with Joshua as a late-notice replacement after Joshua’s original opponent Dillian Whyte returned an adverse analytical finding himself.

Whyte has subsequently been cleared to return to boxing.

At the time of his failed test, Helenius did insist on his innocence. “I did not use any performance enhancement now or ever,” he claimed.

“I wanted to send an immediate direct message to Anthony Joshua and boxing fans that I didn’t cheat and never would.”

Joshua delivered a dramatic one-punch knockout win over Helenius in the seventh round as he kept himself on a winning run that has ultimately led him to IBF world title fight with Daniel Dubois this September.

Helenius is entitled to credit for the time he spent provisionally suspended, so his ban is deemed to have commenced on September 18 2023 and will end at midnight on September 17 next year.

But in effect this could bring Helenius’ career to an end. The Finn has previously boxed Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora as well as Joshua and Whyte. But with this ban he will be 41 years old by the time he is allowed to box again in late 2025.