Magee’s pain over ban

It was revealed on Monday that Magee, 38, was the first British athlete to have tested positive for Oxilofrine, the same stimulant sprinter Asafa Powell was recently found to have in his system.

The substance did not appear on the list of ingredients for a sports supplement the former world super-middleweight champion took during the build-up to his WBA title defeat to Mikkel Kessler in December, following a virus.

He is now considering legal action against the manufacturer of the supplement.

UK Anti-Doping said that his failure to double-check the product with a qualified medic was still deemed “careless and negligent”, leading to a suspension that was backdated to January and expires next week.

However, they admitted that if Magee “had acted with the requisite level of care and attention he might still have found himself in the position he is now,” given that the substance was not listed in the supplement’s ingredients.

The local boxer said: “I was totally lost as to what it was, I knew I wasn’t up to anything. Thanks to the support of my team and manager Pat Magee, we were able to have everything tested independently.”

Following months of heartache, Magee finally discovered the cause of the positive test.

He said: “I was just so shocked. I thought my boxing career was over. I’ve had a 25 year boxing career, my whole history in boxing could have been dumped into the bin.

“There has to be legislation put in place to make these companies accountable.”

Brian said he has ‘always been so careful’ about what he uses.

‘I’ve been an Olympic athlete, so I know how to be careful about what I take. I don’t even take cough medicine or Lemsips, that’s how careful and strict I am. This is not fair on hard working athletes.”