The International Boxing Federation has ruled that D.C.-based boxer Lamont Peterson can keep his light heavyweight championship belt, three months after the fighter failed a drug test that scuppered a rematch with British boxer Amir Khan, according to a Washington Post report.
The IBF released a statement Friday that said an independent physician had found that Peterson's use of synthetic testosterone was for "therapeutic" purposes, "and not for the purpose of performance enhancement."
Peterson's doctors have claimed that the fighter suffers from hypogonadism, a condition that requires him to use therapeutic testosterone. Peterson tested positive for the banned substance 10 days before his scheduled Las Vegas fight with Khan, whom Peterson defeated for the IBF and WBA championship in Washington this past December.
As a result of the positive test, the WBA reinstated Khan as its 140-pound champion, a title the fighter held until July 14, when he was knocked out by Danny Garcia in a WBA-WBC unified title bout.
The IBF has ordered Peterson to fight Zab Judah, who holds the current No. 1 spot in the IBF light welterweight rankings. A date and venue for the bout has yet to be determined.
