Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker is free to box again after his provisional suspension for a failed drug test was lifted on Wednesday.

Parker, a 34-year-old New Zealander, failed a voluntary dope test on the day he fought and lost to Britain's Fabio Wardley last October. Wardley stopped him in the 11th round. Reports at the time indicated the positive result was for traces of cocaine, a recreational drug rather than a performance-enhancing one. Parker denied ever taking a prohibited substance and called the test result "a real surprise," AP News. He had risked a two-year ban.

The suspension is over, but the details behind its lifting remain thin. Robert Smith, general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control — the body that governs professional boxing in Britain — confirmed the suspension had been lifted but gave no further explanation. Parker himself broke the news in a statement given to ESPN, saying he would be "back in the ring soon" but had been advised to say no more for now, Sky Sports reported.

Parker held the WBO heavyweight title — one of the four major world championship belts in boxing — from 2016 to 2018. He lost it on points to Anthony Joshua. Since then he has rebuilt his career several times over, beating the likes of Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, only for the failed test and the Wardley loss to halt his momentum again. With the suspension gone, his next fight is a matter of when, not if, though no opponent or date has been mentioned.

The same day Parker's clearance was confirmed, the boxing world was also following the far more serious situation of Raven Chapman, a British featherweight who has been hospitalised in Denmark since late July.

Chapman, 32, collapsed on Friday 25 July after a sparring session and was airlifted to a local hospital, where she was diagnosed with a brain haematoma — bleeding inside the skull — and cerebral oedema, which is swelling of the brain. She underwent emergency surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma to reduce pressure on the brain. Her management company, Vote Boxing, later confirmed that she has been taken off sedatives and is awaiting medically supervised transfer to a UK hospital.

A GoFundMe page has been launched to help cover her medical costs. Chapman, who is from Norwich, has won 10 professional fights and lost two. One of those defeats came against Skye Nicolson in October 2024, when Chapman challenged for the WBC world featherweight title — one of the four major belts in the women's game. She had been promoted by Queensberry Promotions, whose founder Frank Warren said everyone at the company was behind her.

For now, both stories remain unresolved. Parker can fight but has not said when or against whom. Chapman is awake and off sedation, but her recovery is only beginning.