Despite both his A- and B-samples coming back positive for exogenous testosterone after last May’s unanimous decision over Bruno Surace in their rematch, Salvador Rodriguez reports that Jaime Munguia will receive no punishment from either UK Anti-Doping or the British Boxing Board of Control, clearing the way for a potential return in November or December.
Munguia (45-2, 35 KO) released a statement on Instagram confirming the news, adding that “the positive result was a false positive caused by accidental
contamination with pregnenolone.” Per USADA, pregnenolone is used “as an anti-aging compound, for hormone replacement and to treat a myriad of medical conditions” and is not on their banned substance list. That said, they also consider “the use of any dietary supplement that claims to deliver or ‘boost’ hormones to be especially risky.”
Hence the increased testosterone, at least if you buy Munguia’s explanation. His team’s statement goes on to say that “[t]he levels detected were extremely low, provided no performance advantage, and were fully consistent with accidental exposure.”
Munguia is now clear to return to the ring as soon as he’s ready; Riyadh’s November 22nd show recently lost Subriel Matias vs Dalton Smith, so that could be somewhere to slot him in. Even with the official exoneration, though, one would expect him to have a dark cloud over him for the foreseeable future.
