Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Tom Zbikowski’s boxing suspension has been rescinded after a disputed drug test, according to his manager.
The Chickasaw Nation Gaming Commission said that THC, the active ingredient in marijuna, was present in the post-fight drug test Zbikowski took after a first-round knockout Saturday in Oklahoma. He was suspended 45 days, pending another test.
The Baltimore Ravens safety took another test at an independent lab in Chicago that came back negative, his manager Mike Joyce said Tuesday.
“Tommy is very relieved,” Joyce said, according to the National Football Post. “Tommy works too hard and puts his body through too much to risk his NFL and boxing career by putting anything illegal in his body. Tommy has never used illegal or banned substances. He’s a clean-living guy.
“We’re very grateful that the Chickasaw Nation acted so quickly. The people at the Chickasaw Nation were very professional and treated us with courtesy. Tommy is glad that this ordeal is over.”
Zbikowski fought Saturday at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville in far southern Oklahoma, knocking out Blake Warner of Oklahoma City in the first round and improving his pro record to 4-0. The casino is owned by an American Indian tribe, the Chickasaw Nation.
After the second boxing card ever held at the casino, 16 fighters underwent drug tests and five of them came back positive. Haskell Alexander, the deputy commissioner of the Chickasaw Nation Gaming Commission, suspended those fighters for 45 days.
Joyce had claimed that the intial test was not very professional — the fighters urinated in a cup and a strip was used for testing. He compared it to a very inexpensive pregnancy test.
He had no doubt that a new test would vindicate his client.
“Like I said, the guys I know that smoke pot are all big fat guys that have the munchies,” Joyce said, according to National Football Post. “Tom doesn’t even eat pizza. He treats his body as a temple. He has passed hundreds of NFL and NCAA tests. He doesn’t do drugs.”
-ESPN
