LAS VEGAS – Alberto Puello’s championship reign apparently will be a short one.

BoxingScene.com has learned that the Dominican southpaw has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, which is expected to cost Puello his WBA super lightweight title. The 28-year-old Puello failed for clomiphene in a test administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

Puello (21-0, 10 KOs) has consequently been removed from what was supposed to be his first WBA 140-pound championship defense against Rolando “Rolly” Romero. Puello-Romero was scheduled to headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader May 13 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Romero (14-1, 12 KOs), of North Las Vegas, Nevada, is now expected to meet Ismael Barroso for the WBA’s interim super lightweight title in Premier Boxing Champions’ main event on Showtime next month.

Venezuela’s Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for the WBA’s 140-pound crown. The 40-year-old contender was scheduled to compete on the non-televised portion of the Puello-Romero undercard and would’ve fought the Puello-Romero winner next if he won that bout.

Puello, meanwhile, will go through the appeals process. If his “B” sample also comes back positive for Clomiphene, he will be stripped of a WBA belt he won almost eight months ago.

Clomiphene is the same substance for which Conor Benn tested positive prior to his ill-fated fight against British rival Chris Eubank Jr.

Benn and Eubank were supposed to box October 8 at O2 Arena in London, but their grudge match was scrapped when it was revealed by the British Boxing Board of Control on October 4 that Benn failed a PED test. England’s Benn has adamantly maintained his innocence since it became public knowledge that he tested positive for a drug that typically is prescribed to women who struggle with infertility.

Puello beat Uzbekistan’s Batyr Akhmedov by split decision in their back-and-forth 12-round bout to win the then-vacant WBA super lightweight title August 20 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Akhmedov (9-2, 8 KOs) will square off against Chicago’s Kenneth Sims Jr. (19-2-1, 7 KOs) in Showtime’s 10-round opener the night of the Romero-Barroso bout.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.