The WBA has suspended heavyweight contender Luis "King Kong" Ortiz for one year for a failed drug test.
It's the 38-year-old fighter's second failed drug test in three years. Ortiz failed a random urine test by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on Sept. 22. He tested positive for two banned diuretics that are commonly used as masking agents for performance-enhancing drug use.
Ortiz was the mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua's WBA title.
His recent failed test had already led the WBC to drop Ortiz from a scheduled Nov. 4 heavyweight title fight against Deontay Wilder in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Bermane Stiverne will now face Wilder in that Showtime bout.
Ortiz's WBA suspension means his status as title contender is revoked, he is removed from the WBA rankings, and he may not fight in a WBA-sanctioned fight until Sept. 22, 2108. According to ESPN, in announcing the ban the organization said Ortiz may apply for reinstatement after March 22, 2018, at the WBA's discretion.
Ortiz did not deny taking the two banned diuretics, chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide, but said they are present in high blood pressure medication he is taking.
The fighter's previous failed drug test came in September 2014, when he failed a pre-fight drug test for an anabolic steroid, nandrolone. Although Ortiz went on to score a first-round knockout over Lateef Kayode to capture the vacant WBA interim heavyweight title, the Nevada Athletic Commission stripped him of the title and suspended him for eight months.
Ortiz, a Cuban defector, is 27-0 with 23 knockouts in his career.