David Benavidez tests positive for cocaine

One of the sport’s most promising young knockout artists has effed up something fierce.

The Ring reports that WBC Super Middleweight Champion David Benavidez tested positive for cocaine in an out-of-competition test last month. The sanctioning body’s investigation is ongoing.

Benavidez (20-0, 17 KO) brawled his way past Ronald Gavril for the belt last year, then dominated him in the rematch five months later. Promotional issues have kept him out of the ring since that February bout, and he’s yet to secure a date or location for his planned fight with Anthony Dirrell.

Dirrell had stated that he wants to retire by the end of the year, which could prove a complication should Benavidez receive a suspension.

I’m aware that I sound like a D.A.R.E. councilor, but I’m sick of young, talented fighters making boneheaded decisions, both from the empathetic perspective of not wanting people to screw up and the selfish perspective of wanting them to achieve their maximum fighting potential. If you’re going to do coke, at least be responsible enough not to do it when you’re in a random testing program.