The UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) announced a four-year ban for a boxer who died earlier this year before later apologising for the mistake.
In a statement published on Monday afternoon, Ukad revealed that Moises Calleros had tested positive for cocaine in a post-fight drugs test following his defeat to Britain’s Galal Yafai in April last year.
The statement confirmed that Calleros would be banned from boxing for four years as a result but it soon emerged that the Mexican had sadly passed away in March, at the age of just 34.
The Ukad statement initially read: “Anti-Doping Rule Violation! Mexican Professional Boxer Moises Calleros has been banned for four years, following Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) for the presence and Use of Prohibited substance, cocaine and its metabolite.”
Once it became clear that Calleros had passed away three months ago, Ukad deleted the statement from both their website and their social media accounts.
They later apologised for the blunder, saying: “UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) has today received information regarding the death of Mexican professional boxer Moises Calleros.
“UKAD received this information shortly after publishing details of the outcome from a case concerning Mr Calleros in accordance with the UK Anti-Doping Rules.
“Unfortunately, UKAD had no information regarding Mr Calleros’ sad passing at the time of publication and has now removed all details of this case from its channels.”
It is not known how Calleros died but the Yafai defeat – which came on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua v Jermaine Franklin contest at the O2 Arena – turned out to be the penultimate fight of his boxing career. His final bout was a first-round knockout victory over Gerardo Verde Moreno in Ensenada, Mexico in December 2023.
Calleros went 37-11-1 in a 16-year professional career that began back in 2008 and he challenged for the WBO minimumweight title in 2018 but was forced to retire in round eight against Ryuya Yamanaka in Kobe.
He also fought past or future world champions Julio Cesar Martinez, Jose Argumendo and Francisco Rodriguez during his career.
