Kenichi Ogawa Gets One-Year Suspension For Drug Test Failure

[Ruthless-RKO]

The Japan Boxing Commission said Monday it has handed Kenichi Ogawa a one-year suspension after he became the first Japanese boxer to be stripped of a world title for failing a doping test.

Ogawa lost his International Boxing Federation super featherweight belt and was banned for six months after a doping test conducted in the lead-up to his Dec. 9 title fight in Las Vegas against American Tevin Farmer came back positive.

The JBC's suspension is retroactive to Dec. 10, the day after Ogawa won the then-vacant title by beating Farmer in a split decision.

In April, the Nevada State Athletic Commission invalidated the fight and determined the six-month ban for the 30-year-old Ogawa after it was confirmed he tested positive for two forms of androstanediol, a synthetic testosterone, in a urine test conducted on Dec. 5.

A drug test after the fight came back negative, and Ogawa has denied knowingly ingesting a banned substance.

Following news of the positive test in January, a source close to the matter said medicine for Ogawa's skin condition may have triggered the positive result. The boxer has submitted the medication in question to the NSAC.