Super featherweight champ Francisco Vargas tests positive for clenbuterol

Super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas, who is scheduled to fight Orlando Salido for the WBC title on June 4 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., tested positive for the banned drug clenbuterol, it was revealed Thursday.

The positive test, part of a voluntary testing program Vargas requested for this fight, was revealed as Vargas trained in Mexico. It puts the June 4 fight in jeopardy.

Vargas (23-0-1, 17 KOs), blamed the positive test on contaminated meat he consumed in Mexico.

Golden Boy Promotions, which is promoting the fight, issued a statement Thursday regarding Vargas:

"As part of a voluntary testing program that Francisco Vargas requested ahead of his June 4 fight, he tested positive for clenbuterol.

"Francisco believes he tested positive due to ingesting contaminated meat in Mexico where clenbuterol is commonly used by ranchers in livestock feed. The Associated Press reported this week that this practice may impact athletes throughout the country ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

"Francisco has, is and will always be a clean fighter. That is why he insisted on this voluntary testing program ahead of the first defense of his WBC championship. He previously tested clean as part of this same voluntary testing regiment and in all of his previous fights.

"He will immediately leave Mexico to finish his training camp in the U.S. in order to avoid any possible repeat of this situation and is fully cooperating with the California State Athletic Commission to submit to all required testing ahead of his June 4 title defense."

The fight is still on pending the outcome of the B sample. The A sample came back positive. If the B sample comes back positive as well, or if Vargas had declined the B sample, then the A sample stands up. That still doesn't necessarily cancel the fight. That will be up to the California State Athletic Commission.

Vargas is defending for the first time the title he won in November against Takashi Miura at Mandalay Bay, on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez middleweight title fight. Vargas stopped Miura in the ninth round after nearly being stopped himself in the fourth round. The fight ended up being USA TODAY Sports/Boxing Junkie's 2015 fight of the year.

Because of Vargas' severe facial injuries in the Miura fight, he was not cleared to fight until just recently.

Ironically it was Vargas who requested the testing because of fellow Mexican Salido's past positive drug tests, including a 2006 victory against Robert Guerrero that was overturned.

(Photo of Vargas by Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports)