JAIME MUNGUIA has claimed that he is now free to resume his career, citing ‘accidental exposure’ as the reason for his positive drugs test results.
The 28-year-old returned an adverse finding of exogenous testosterone, a banned substance, following his unanimous decision victory over Bruno Surace in May.
News of his A-sample test, which was conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA), emerged in June, only for his subsequent B-sample test to then produce the exact same result.
Sure enough, speculation of his wrongdoing only mounted in response to the development, despite Munguia, 45-2 (35 KOs), maintaining his innocence with claims of contamination.
Well, it appears that the three organisations involved now view the situation through a similar lens, with the former world champion providing enough evidence to avoid any form of punishment.
According to a statement released by Team Munguia, the WBC – whose overall involvement remains nebulous, at best – arrived at the verdict that there will be no investigation, charge, or sanction against the super-middleweight contender.
Similarly, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), the governing body that oversaw Munguia’s victory over Surace, has effectively determined through UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) that the Mexican’s evidence is convincing.
In Munguia’s official statement, it says: “Independent analysis – including testing of my supplements by SMRTL Lab, a WADA-accredited laboratory that also processed my A and B samples, along with additional hair and nail testing by world-renowned toxicologist Dr. Pascal Kintz – proved that the positive result was a false positive caused by accidental contamination with pregnenolone, a legal, non-banned substance.
“The levels detected were extremely low, provided no performance advantage, and were fully consistent with accidental exposure.
“I did not cheat—the science proves it—and I am grateful to the WBC, BBBofC, and UKAD for acknowledging this truth.”
Indeed, pregnenolone does not appear on the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) Prohibited List and, therefore, remains a substance that can be ingested under any jurisdiction.
But what Munguia is claiming, more specifically, is that pregnenolone, which is commonly used as an anti-aging compound – while also being designed to treat a range of medical conditions – had ultimately caused his heightened levels of testosterone.
Yet still, the fact remains that it was VADA – and not UKAD – who detected exogenous testosterone in the high-volume puncher’s system just a few months ago.
It must be said, too, that given the prolific use of microdosing techniques in boxing, his justification for the levels of exogenous testosterone being ‘extremely low’ is hardly worth considering.
But of course, it would nonetheless seem that the WBC, BBBofC and UKAD have all accepted Munguia’s reasoning that pregnenolone had most likely contaminated one of his supplements and, in turn, contributed to his positive A and B-samples.
