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UPDATE: The substance has been identified as clomiphene, AKA clomid, and the fight has been canceled.
Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight debut might be slightly cursed. After withdrawing from a May bout with Carlos Takam due to injury and seeing Takam withdraw from an attempted rescheduling, Plan B opponent Tyrone Spong has reportedly run afoul of VADA just days before their planned clash in Chicago.
We have been contacted by VADA to inform us that there has been an adverse finding in Tyrone Spong’s test. It has been sent to the State of Illinois commission and further information will be released in the morning. We have reserve opponents standing by.
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) October 7, 2019
The fight is still on as of this writing, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen an “adverse finding” not result in trouble.
There’s really not much we can do until Hearn on the Illinois State commission chime in with additional information, so let’s take the opportunity to try and guess who the replacement will be. My money’s on Joey Dawejko; he tossed his hat in the right when Dereck Chisora found himself in need of a new opponent on Octobre 26th, so he’s clearly ready to rock whenever. Just hope he doesn’t get hit by a meteor or something as the universe continues to thwart Usyk’s (16-0, 12 KO) attempt to take part in a new weight class.