“I thought, ‘Yes! I’m taking that!’ Then a couple of days later we got the letter from UKAD and that was it. Done, banned for four years!”
Rollback to April 2018, Liam Cameron, 20-5, had just come off the first defence of his Commonwealth Middleweight title defeating Nicky Jenman, having claimed the strap the previous year in a sensational performance over local rival Sam Sheedy.
Cameron’s career was looking up, with offers coming in to fight some of the very best in the country before his whole world came crashing down.
“I was in a good place. I had just come off two televised shows on a Freeview channel and I got offered a fight with Martin Murray after Billy Joe Saunders pulled out.”
The dreams of, great nights under bright lights, all vanished just days later.
But until this day Liam Cameron protests his innocence, whilst claiming inconsistency from the British Boxing Board of Control has lead to the Sheffield man’s misfortune.
“There is no way I am going to admit to something I haven’t done! Plus, what was in my system was absolutely minuet. It was so small that the professor said it wouldn’t even enhance my performance anyway.
“What’s happened since to make it even worse is that they [UKAD & BBBoC] have taken the substance off the list and the maximum ban is only three months now!
“You know if I admitted to it I would only have been given sixteen months. I would have had to make up a story and stuff, it is ridiculous.” Cameron continued.
“There was a Hull KR [rugby player] who got banged up at the same time as me for the same sort of thing, and he only got sixteen months. It is stupid this boxing game!
“Steroids performance enhance you, not cocaine. If I was going to have a performance enhancer, why would I take cocaine a few days before my fight? It is ridiculous, I knew there would be drug tests too, I paid to have the tests done out of my own purse!
“If I were going to do it, which I wouldn’t anyway, but I wouldn’t do it before a fight!
“You would take something like that after all your hard work is over, maybe at a party afterwards, but not stupidly before!” Liam told proboxing-fans.com.
“They say I ingested it three days before my fight, why would I do that? If anything you would have it the day of a fight you would think. It is so stupid the whole thing.
“During that time I was running around sorting out tickets and trying to get ready for my fight, I wasn’t messing around with cocaine.”
I had to ask; Why the positive test?
“The medical professionals said it was a tenth of a recreational line. It is just not consistent, it is not fair. Others get six month ban’s and I get four years.
“It wasn’t actually cocaine what I got banned for, it was for Benzoylecgonine which is created in your body if you take cocaine. But, there are about twenty different scenarios where your body can produce it.”
Cameron continued about his new found education and the way boxing fans now perceive him.
“You know I have done a lot of studying on this subject. I didn’t even know the names of all these chemicals before my ban. But I had to read about it all to find out what was going on with my case!
“I have no idea how this got in my system, and I know people think I am talking bollocks and that I’m out taking cocaine.
“I will do a lie detector test or anything they like to clear my name. Problem is that it looks like it has no chance of getting my licence back anyway.”
There were some tough times ahead once it was clear that Liam Cameron’s next fight would not come in the ring.
“It was a rough time. I am lucky to have a great Mum and Dad, and also my girlfriend who are all with me forever.
“They know what is right at the end of the day, I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing that anyway because my girlfriend would have kicked me out the house.
“They all know I would not mess my life up for that. I did go through a rocky patch when I was first banned. I was drinking too much as the whole thing hit me for six. But I am well out of that now, I’m pretty happy at the moment.”
Away from the world of boxing Liam Cameron’s life suffered more turmoil last year. A moment of perspective had come into his life and what sounds like the right time.
“We had a tragedy last year where my step-daughter died from being run over in a car accident. I had just started to get over the ban from boxing and then that happened.
“But, you know what? I had to be strong for my family at the moment. Whatever happens in boxing just does not compare to something like that.
“The whole thing gave me a good kick up the arse to fair, you really have to enjoy life and your family and be thankful for what you have.”
Despite the the rollercoaster ride of despair and continuous regrouping of the one time Commonwealth champion’s time outside the ring, there did appear to be an optimism for the future in his words, with just over a year until the original four year ban is concluded.
“I would love to open a gym actually and name it after my step-daughter.
“It would be great to stuck into training local kids and try and do something positive for me and the area. Despite my bad time with boxing, it can be great for your discipline in all areas of your life.”
At 31-years-old what ambitions, if any, did Liam have left inside a boxing ring?
“I was actually offered a bare-knuckle fight for good money, but if I take any other fight my ban doubles to eight years!
“That would stop me from opening a gym properly as I wouldn’t be licensed coach, it just isn’t worth the risk. I wouldn’t be able to train amateur or professional fighters.
“With around a year left on my ban I have started running again. I’m actually seventeen stone at the minute! But I’m running three miles a day already, watching my diet and I’m not drinking.
“Obviously I’m looking to get near to eleven stone which is quite a lot of weight to shift. I am not sure if I will come back as a fighter or a coach or maybe even both.
“I have thought about fighting the ban again, but I have been trying for three years and it is nearly over, what good will it do to my life.
“Basically I want to be able to have the choice, but I want to get involved in boxing again one hundred percent.”
Coming back from being cut down in his prime, I could sense some resilience in Cameron’s words. That quality may have been his downfall when protesting his innocence to the BBBoC nearly three years ago.
However, that same quality could lead Liam Cameron out of the tunnel that he has only just started to see the end of.
By Adam Noble-Forcey
Follow Adam on Twitter: @Adam4cSports and Instagram: 4c_sports_media
