Lupesoliai La’auliolemalietoa, 34, was found to have an illicit substance in his system by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) on the day of his fight with Fabio Wardley, 31, last year, and Parker’s head coach Andy Lee has now provided an update on the case.

Speaking with talkSPORT, Lee said: “It really rocked me.

“I think it’s funny, as a coach, it's probably your worst nightmare to find out that one of your fighters has failed a drug test.

“But the situation is quite strange - to test on the day of the fight, for a substance [which is a Class-A drug], that is not performance-enhancing.

“It’s probably the worst thing that you could do, going into a fight, is take [drugs].”

Parker has been facing a two-year ban from boxing after testing positive for an illicit substance, and has since filed an appeal.

Lee continued: “There has been an internal investigation as a team. His manager, David Higgins and I, and other people in the team.

“This is not for me to say right now, but it will come out. We are working with lawyers in the UK and appealing the decision.

“[Parker] doesn't know how long he is banned for. He doesn’t really know what the ruling is yet, but there will be some appeal.

“Joe is quite confident that he will be exonerated with the evidence that I have seen and heard from Joe and David Higgins.”

While Parker has since returned to training, Lee admitted the failed drugs test “really shock him”.

The head coach continued: “He was just at a loss about how it got into his system.”

Lee added Parker is not licensed to fight while he is under investigation.

He said: “Joe's quite philosophical about it because he's got a great upbringing and he's a man of faith.

“He believes it'll come to light soon what happened and he'll be exonerated.

“People know Joe, and I think he deserves the right to not be judged yet because of the person he is and the fighter he is.”