Former boxing champion Lucian Bute is free to fight again after agreeing to pay $50,000 into an anti-doping fund and accept a six-month suspension, which he has already served, after it was found that his positive post-fight doping test was caused by contaminated supplements.
Promoter Groupe Yvon Michel said the boxing commission in Washington, D.C. accepted the Montreal fighter’s argument that he did not knowing use the banned substance Ostarine.
READ MORE: Former Canadian boxing champ Lucian Bute says positive drug test was from contaminated supplement
He will pay his fine to the World Boxing Council’s clean boxing program.
The suspension covered the period from May 6 to Nov. 6, so Bute is free to resume fighting whenever he likes.
Bute (32-3-1) tested positive after fighting to a draw with Badou Jack in Washington in his last fight on April 30.
READ MORE: Canada’s Lucian Bute loses IBF title after being stopped in the fifth round
He argued that the banned substance came from a contaminated batch of supplements he received from a California company.
“I am extremely relieved and happy that this is now over,” Bute said in a statement.
Bute, a Romania native, won the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight title in 2007.
READ MORE: IBF champ Lucian Bute spends day training in preparation for weekend challenge
He defended it nine times before suffering a one-sided defeat to Carl Froch in 2012.
The 36-year-old has a 2-3-1 record in his last six bouts but has vowed to continue fighting and be world champion again.
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