Joseph Parker begins appeal without knowing suspension length

Appeal filed before suspension length is confirmed following Wardley loss

Joseph Parker has filed an appeal following his failed cocaine test after the loss to Fabio Wardley. The former heavyweight titleholder is challenging the ruling before regulators have even confirmed the length of a potential suspension.

Parker tested positive on the day of his heavyweight title loss to Fabio Wardley on October 25. That result shifted the division immediately; Wardley was upgraded from interim to full WBO heavyweight champion.  While cocaine is considered a recreational substance rather than a performance enhancer, it remains strictly prohibited “in-competition” by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and UK Anti-Doping (UKAD).

Lee revealed that Parker’s legal response is underway despite a lack of specific details from the governing body regarding the exact terms of the ban.

“Joe’s working with lawyers in the UK and appealing the decision,” Lee told talkSPORT Boxing. “He doesn’t know how long he is banned for. He doesn’t really know what the ruling is yet, but there will be some appeal.”

The situation puts Parker in a strange spot, defending himself against a sentence that hasn’t been fully defined. Lee confirmed that Parker’s management, including longtime promoter David Higgins, has already run an internal investigation into how the substance entered Parker’s system.

“There has been an internal investigation as a team,” Lee said. “This is not for me to say right now, but it will come out.”

The timing of the failure is particularly devastating for Parker. Before the Wardley fight, he was on a career-best run, having secured back-to-back victories over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. He was in talks for a high-profile fight with Daniel Dubois before this news derailed those plans.

In the Wardley fight itself, Parker was actually ahead on two of the three official scorecards before being stopped in the 11th round. The loss alone was a setback, but the subsequent positive test for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, threatens to sideline him for up to two years.

Lee added that Parker is confident the evidence will tip the scales back in his favor once the full story is told.

“Joe is quite confident that he will be exonerated with the evidence that I have seen and heard,” Lee noted.

Parker has remained active in the gym while awaiting further communication from authorities, continuing to train without knowing when he will be cleared to compete again. The appeal now represents the next step in determining whether Parker’s suspension will be upheld, reduced, or overturned once regulators formally define the ruling and review the evidence submitted by his team.

For a fighter who has always prided himself on being a clean athlete and a professional ambassador for New Zealand boxing, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If the appeal fails, at 34 years old, a multi-year ban could effectively signal the end of Parker’s time at the elite level of the heavyweight division. For now, the former champion waits for the British Boxing Board of Control to make the next move.