Heavyweight contender Tony Thompson put out the following statement thru his attorney Mike Borao, with respect to earlier reports that he failed a drug test around the time of his 2013 rematch with Olympic bronze medal winner David Price [Thompson won by knockout in both meetings] :

Tony Thompson did not take any performance enhancing steroids, HGH, testosterone or anything of that nature.

The British press is guilty of shoddy journalism as the story is based on old and incomplete news.  

We are disappointed that the press ran sensationalist articles without contacting Mr. Thompson first to learn the truth.

Here is the truth:

1. Tony Thompson has high blood pressure;

2 He was prescribed high blood pressure medication by a physician;

3. He disclosed the medication prior to the fight in which he beat David Price fair and square.

All of this is in the record and  could have been learned with a proper investigation.

The suspension was based on a technicality because while Tony himself disclosed his use of the medication to the boxing commission, his American physician failed to complete the British paperwork.

Why didn’t the press state these incontrovertible facts in the story?   It is unclear if the British press is deliberately hiding the truth or just didn’t bother to investigate, but either way, the story is unfair to Tony. 

Had the authors obtained the complete file from either the British Board of Boxing Control or the UKAD, the British anti-doping organization, they would have discovered that the National Anti-Doping Tribunal wrote the following:

“UKAD accepted as did the Tribunal the medical evidence supporting Mr. Thompson’s assertion that his use of hydrochlorothiazide was purely therapeutic and was not intended to enhance his performance.  The Tribunal was also satisfied on this issue from the evidence set out in the correspondence from Alexandria Healthcare Center [ Thompson’s health care provider] dated 23 September 2013 and 11 November 2013, and the disclosure by Mr. Thompson of high blood pressure in his DCF" [ doping control form].

As far as we are concerned, this story is a non-issue that was misreported.