MOSCOW, October 18 (R-Sport) - The World Boxing Association has stripped Guillermo Jones of the cruiserweight title after the Panamanian tested positive for a banned diuretic, handing it back to the man he defeated in May, Russian fighter Denis Lebedev, specialist site fightnews.com reported Friday.
Jones stopped Lebedev in the 11th round in Moscow last spring but immediately faced claims of doping irregularities. The WBA previously said that one of the two fighters' 'A' samples tested positive, but did not name the boxer concerned.
Lebedev said earlier this month that since the Jones fight, he had seen how "dark" and "dirty" boxing could be, but said he had no direct knowledge of how the drug testing process was going.
Fightnews reported that the respective management teams of Jones and Lebedev have been told to negotiate a rematch.
The bout on May 17 was stopped because of a swelling on Lebedev's face the size of a tennis ball. Talking of his gruesome facial injury, pictures of which were shared around the world, Lebedev said earlier this month: "My eye still hurts."
