Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker is free to box again after the British Boxing Board of Control lifted the provisional suspension he had been under since testing positive for cocaine.

The BBBoC confirmed to BBC Sport that Parker's suspension has been lifted, clearing the New Zealander to return to the ring. BBC Sport

The case dates back to 25 October, when Parker was tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association — an independent body that fighters can sign up to for additional drug screening beyond what governing bodies require. That same night, at London's O2 Arena, Parker was beaten by Britain's Fabio Wardley.

New Zealand outlet Stuff reported in November 2025 that Parker had been suspended over the failed test. Stuff He has denied knowingly taking any banned substance.

Parker, 34, holds a professional record of 36 wins and four defeats. He held the WBO heavyweight title — one of the four major belts in boxing — from 2016 to 2018, before losing it to Anthony Joshua in a unification fight in Cardiff.

The path back was not straightforward. Parker had faced the possibility of a ban of up to two years, with any sanction to be determined by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) and the BBBoC. Ukad did not oversee the original Vada test and would have needed to carry out its own investigation before deciding whether to pursue a formal sanction.

The distinction matters: Vada operates outside the official anti-doping framework that Ukad administers in Britain. A positive Vada test triggers a provisional suspension from the relevant board, but it is Ukad that would conduct the full investigation and set any punishment. With the BBBoC now lifting the provisional suspension, Parker is no longer barred from competing while questions about Ukad's next steps remain.

For Parker, the lifting of the suspension reopens a career that has seen him mix with the heavyweight division's best across a decade at the top. The loss to Wardley was his fourth as a professional, but at 36-4 he remains a significant name in a division always short on established operators.

Whether promoters move quickly to book him, and whether Ukad revisits the case independently, will shape what comes next for a fighter who has been cleared to fight but not yet fully cleared of the underlying allegation.