Newly-crowned WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Alejandra Jimenez has tested positive for a banned substance.
The WBC revealed that VADA, which handled the testing for her fight against Franchon Crews-Dezurn from January 11, has found an adverse finding from a test conducted on Jimenez.
.@Vada_Testing has notified the @WBCBoxing of an adverse finding from a test conducted on January 11 on Alejandra Jimenez as part of the testing protocol for her fight vs Franchon Crews-Dezurn. @WBCBoxing has inniciated the corresponding process under the Clean Boxing Program pic.twitter.com/b96CTYVJgX
— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) January 24, 2020
It was later revealed that the banned substance was the anabolic steroid stanozolol. Jimenez would go on to deny that she took any illegal drugs in a statement written in Spanish.
Golden Boy Promotions, who promotes Crews-Dezurn, sent out a statement sharing its disappointment of the news and that it will look to get the WBC and WBO to reinstate Crews-Dezurn as champion.
"It is extremely unfortunate to learn that WBC and WBO super middleweight world champion Alejandra Jimenez has tested positive for banned substances after her title fight with Franchon Crews-Dezurn on January 11. As Franchon's promoter, we are incredibly disappointed for her as she worked incredibly hard to defend her titles. However, our job is to ensure the safety of our fighters both inside and outside of the ring. Thus, we have always insisted and supported testing through the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) for all of our world championship fights. Jimenez's fight against Franchon Crews-Dezurn is no exception. Now our job is to find justice for Franchon by working closely with the WBC and the WBO in order to re-instate her as a world champion."
Jimenez, a former WBC heavyweight champion, won the bout against Crews-Dezurn by split decision (97-93, 93-97, 98-92) as part of a DAZN card that was headlined by Jaime Munguia's middleweight debut against Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan.
