Erik Morales could be suspended two years due to failed USADA tests

Erik Morales is facing a possible two year-suspension stemming from the USADA drug tests he failed prior to last October's knockout loss to Danny Garcia, with the anti-doping organization attempting to hold the fighter accountable even though Golden Boy Promotions and the New York State Athletic Commission did not.

Morales, as you likely recall, failed tests for clenbuterol, blaming it on tainted Mexican beef, and was allowed to take repeated tests until he actually passed one, which GBP and NYSAC then used to allow the fight to go on as scheduled. Golden Boy had lost a pair of money fighters earlier in the year when Andre Berto and Lamont Peterson failed VADA tests, which cost GBP money and wound up affecting a lot of people, from the undercard fighters and their teams to the networks set to carry those fights.

No one in boxing had publicly failed a USADA test until Morales did, and it seemed to many as though everyone simply refused to let another card fall through, especially one as important as Golden Boy's debut at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where they have a deal to run frequent events.

Morales, 36, has said he plans to stage a farewell bout in Mexico, which would likely happen even if USADA does suspend the fighter, who has until February 18 to either accept or contest the charges and the sanctions that would be levied against him.