Magee keen to box again after doping ban ends

Published Jul. 23, 2013 7:35 a.m. ET

foxsports

Former WBA super middleweight champion Brian Magee says he is keen to get back in the ring when his six-month doping ban ends later this month.

It was announced Monday that the Northern Irishman tested positive for the banned stimulant Oxilofrine following his title defeat to Mikkel Kessler in December. Magee escaped a longer ban by proving the substance had come from an unlabeled ingredient in a sports supplement.

Magee says ''I was in total shock when I was told I had tested positive, and I honestly thought someone was playing a joke.''

The ban ends July 29, and Magee says ''I have already got back in the gym and I can't wait to fight again.''

Jamaican sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson tested positive for Oxilofrine last month.