The biggest win of Joe Cusumano’s career will come at a hefty price.

It will also no longer exist.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) has already begun the process to convert the heavyweight’s June 24 eighth-round knockout win over Adam Kownacki to a No-Contest. Cusumano was credited with an eighth-round stoppage in their DAZN aired bout from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.

However, testing samples provided by the 35-year-old Virginia native both before and after the bout produced findings of banned substances as discovered through commission testing. Cusumano is now under indefinite suspension and faces a fine and forfeiture of his purse from that bout.  

“The New York State Athletic Commission has taken action against Juiseppe Cusumano who tested positive for performance enhancing substances,” an NYSAC spokesperson confirmed in a provided statement to Boxing Scene. “As per commission protocol, athletes must undergo routine urinalysis screening before and after every bout. The positive results stem from samples collected before and after a June 24th match up. The Commission has served Juiseppe Cusumano with a notice of fine, administrative suspension, and indefinite medical suspension due to adverse analytical findings of performance enhancing substances in relation to his June 24th, 2023 professional boxing match at Madison Square Garden.

“Furthermore, the Commission has also served Mr. Cusumano with notice of intent to seek an administrative action to change the recorded official bout result of his June 24th professional boxing match to a “no contest” and to seek forfeiture of his purse in relation to the June 24th match.”

Brooklyn’s Kownacki (20-4, 15KOs) entered as the crowd favorite but also at a career crossroads as he’d lost his last three bouts. The 34-year-old Polish slugger was dropped in the opening round but fought on competitive terms through the first half of the bout.

That took a dramatic shift in round seven, when Kownacki was hurt to the point where members from his team—including longtime manager Keith Connolly—sought to have the bout stopped.

Cusumano closed the show in the eighth round to complete the upset win. It was by far the biggest achievement for the journeyman heavyweight, who was previously known for an August 2021 first-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois.

A dark cloud now hovers over that achievement.

Matchroom Boxing—the promoter for the June 24 event which featured Edgar Berlanga in the main event—confirmed Monday that Cusumano “returned an adverse analytical finding as part of an anti-doping protocol mandated by the New York State Athletic Commission. We understand a process is underway with the New York State Athletic Commission and Matchroom now defers to the applicable regulatory authorities on the next steps.”

The next steps could likely be the end of the road for Cusumano.  

“The Athletic Commission operates with a zero-tolerance policy against any performance enhancing drugs and works vigorously to uphold the integrity of the sport and maintain a level playing field,” confirmed the NYSAC.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox