Photo/Illutration Kazuto Ioka responds to questions at a news conference on May 19 in Tokyo. (Takayuki Kakuno)

The Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) announced on May 19 that it would not discipline four-division world champion Kazuto Ioka because it could not certify a violation of doping rules following his successful title defense in late December. 

JBC officials acknowledged shoddy handling of urine samples taken from Ioka, 32, the first Japanese boxer to hold championship belts in four weight classes.

Ioka held a news conference on May 19 and said, “Total responsibility for this incident rests with the JBC. I hope it will establish a system that never again leads to such a poor handling of the testing.”

Yuhei Nagata, a JBC executive, apologized at the news conference for damaging Ioka's reputation, but said no immediate disciplinary measures were being considered for the boxing commission's officials. 

Although the urine samples were taken on Dec. 31 when Ioka defended his World Boxing Organization super flyweight title by defeating fellow Japanese Kosei Tanaka, 25, in an eighth-round technical knockout, they were not properly frozen for the actual test a few days later.

The JBC asked a third-party panel to look into the matter. The panel’s report pointed to the possibility of a false positive result because of the inadequate manner in which the samples were stored.

The report also faulted the JBC for failing to have a urine sample to respond to Ioka’s request for a second test, as is the right of any athlete suspected of testing positive for banned substances.

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