Friday, January 12, 2001
Drug accusation KOs Tubbs' latest comeback
By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Former heavyweight champion Tony Tubbs ended his latest comeback attempt this week without ever throwing a punch. Once again, authorities say, he was knocked out by drugs.
Tubbs, 42, is in jail again after his probation officer accused him of testing positive for cocaine following a routine urine screen.
Tubbs arrived for a drug test Jan.6 with a bottle of someone else's urine, according to Hamilton County court records. A lab technician noticed Tubbs attempting to conceal the bottle, then called for his supervisor.
Tubbs then offered the lab technician $10 to let him pass the test, the court records state.
The Cincinnati native briefly held the World Boxing Association's heavyweight title in 1985. He struggled with drug addiction for years and was arrested in August after selling a $20 rock of crack cocaine to an undercover police officer.
After refusing to enter a treatment program, Tubbs served three months in jail. He was released last month and began training at a local gym, hoping to make a boxing comeback.
“If it's true he tested positive, it underscores that this is a disease that needs to be treated,” said Tubbs' lawyer, Kenneth Lawson.
Tubbs is scheduled for a hearing Jan.19 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. If he is found guilty of the probation violation, Judge Steven Martin could sentence Tubbs to nine months in jail or a treatment program.
If treatment is offered again, Lawson said he hopes his client takes advantage of it. “He needs two things: treatment and God,” Lawson said. “That's the only way he's going to break this habit.”
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Drug accusation KOs Tubbs' latest comeback