British fighter Tony Bellew questioned whether it would take a death in the ring at the hands of a doped boxer for the sport to tackle the problem of drug cheats.
His comments come as heavyweights Alexander Povetkin, who had an indefinite ban lifted in December after a positive drugs test, and Luis Ortiz, who failed two drug tests in three years, return to the ring.
Tyson Fury, who was banned after testing positive for cocaine, accepted a backdated two-year ban and hopes to make a return in April.
Bellew held no punches as he insisted boxing was too soft on dope cheats and that a death in the ring caused by a boxer on drugs would be comparable to "premeditated murder".
"What is it going to take with these drug cheats? I'm furious to be honest," Bellew told the BBC. "Is it going to take a man to kill another man in the ring and fail a drugs test afterwards. What is going happen when he fails?
"Is that man going to go to jail for life because in my opinion it's murder. And it's premeditated murder. I am not saying he has gone in the ring to kill the opponent, but he has gone in there knowing he has got an unfair advantage."
Bellew, who will fight David Haye on May 5, feels that only life-time bans for dope cheats will clean up the sport: "Ban the first guy for life. Trust me you will see a drastic change in boxing."
He branded the suspension periods served by the likes of Ortiz and Povetkin "a disgrace" but was particularly scathing of the $250,000 fine handed down to Povetkin, which he says could be pitiful in comparison to what he will earn if he was to fight Joshua.
"If he fights Joshua, $250,000 could possibly work out as two percent considering the money of how big it could be. Especially if he goes to Russia with the backers he's got. We saw the outrageous bid that he got when he fought [Wladimir] Klitschko."
He added: "I'm under no illusions, yes boxing is dangerous, but it is 10 times more dangerous if one guy is on performance-enhancing drugs and the other guy isn't. Governing bodies out there, do your job, ban them for life."