Dillian Whyte received some good news the day before his return to the ring. The British heavyweight on Friday posted a statement by United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) saying it had withdrawn a charge that he violated anti-doping rules based on an adverse drug-test finding.
UKAD said it determined after an investigation that a contaminated supplement containing trace amounts of two metabolites of steroids caused Whyte to test positive a month before his July 20 WBC interim title fight vs. Oscar Rivas.
Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) appeared to claim the interim belt when he defeated Rivas by unanimous decision. Shortly after the fight, it was reported that Whyte had failed a prefight drug test administered by UKAD. Whyte appeared before the British Boxing Board of Control on July 17, three days before the bout, to plead his case. The BBBofC allowed him to compete despite the failed test.
The WBC didn't act as kindly; it stripped Whyte of his interim title at the end of July and began an investigation.
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association announced Aug. 1 that Whyte and Rivas had passed prefight and postfight drug tests. Whyte, who maintained his innocence throughout, was never suspended and was free to take a fight at any time.
At the end of November, it was announced he would fight former world title challenger Mariusz Wach on Saturday's undercard of the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua heavyweight title rematch, live on DAZN.