Antonio Tarver Dumped From Showtime Broadcast; Calls Positive Drug Test a “False Positive” and an “Honest Mistake”

IBO cruiserweight champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver has taken to Twitter to maintain his innocence in the matter of a positive drug test.

Testing results from Tarver’s June 2 split decision draw with Lateef Kayode showed that the Magic Man tested positive for drostanolone, an anabolic steroid.

“Today’s news of a false positive caught me as well as my family and supporters by surprise, I apologize for the embarrassment it caused,” tweets Tarver.

“I’ll appeal and submit to the California Commission everything that I’ve consume prior to June 2 that could of caused this honest mistake.”

The California State Athletic Commission has suspended Tarver and also fined him $2500. Tarver earned $1.1 million for his fight with Kayode, the result of which will be changed from a draw to a no-decision.

Tarver was scheduled to resume his analytic duties for the Showtime network during Saturday’s Victor Ortiz versus Josesito Lopez fight broadcast. However, a spokesperson for the network stated the following late Friday night:

“We were made aware of the California State Athletic Commission’s report regarding Antonio Tarver’s positive drug test following his last fight on June 2 this afternoon. Out of respect for the fighters competing on Saturday night, Antonio and the network have mutually agreed that he will not serve as color analyst for the June 23rd boxing telecast.”

Tarver also recently announced that he has been chosen to be the boxing analyst for the 2012 Olympics.