QUOTE
When Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto showed up in New York last September to tout their Madison Square Garden fight, promoter Bob Arum, hesitant to upset his newly-established Entente Cordial with Golden Boy Promotions, was quick to put the kibosh on any Mosley-related steroid talk. Even though Sugar Shane’s name had surfaced in documents seized in the federal raid of Victor Conte’s infamous BALCO lab, Arum said he was more than willing to accept Mosley’s acknowledgement that he had inadvertently ingested performance-enhancing drugs in the past, that he had done so without his knowledge, and that, moreover, it was, well, you know, a long time ago.
As fate would have it, Mosley and Zab Judah hit New York on Tuesday, a day after the first BALCO-related trial got underway in San Francisco, and while the boxers were in the Big Apple to beat the drums for their May 31, 2008 HBO pay-per-view fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Judah and his new mouthpiece Michael Shinefield used the occasion to make it clear that they are not about to let sleeping drugs lie.
Shinefield said that on behalf of Judah he had formally asked Golden Boy to agree that both boxers undergo a blood test administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency to augment the urinalysis required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Plainly, the suggestion was that while Nevada’s extant procedures would detect conventional steroids, they wouldn’t address Human Growth Hormone.
Shinefield said that while the extraordinary measure would be an costly proposition, the Judah camp was prepared to pay the price of the blood test.
“It’s an expensive test, but we’re willing to pay for it,” said the Las Vegas-based lawyer. “Shane Mosley has admitted that he took steroids in the past, so this is a concern. After all, we’re talking about a sport that’s all about strength and power.”
Shinefield said that Mosley, through his promoters, has been dismissive of the proposal. “They accused us of gamesmanship and said we were posturing,” said the lawyer. “Their response was that they weren’t asking for extra security for Zab.”
They didn’t have to, noted Shinefield, acknowledging that in reinstating Judah’s boxing license, the Nevada Commission “flat-out told Zab that next time he’d be banned forever.” (In a career marked by bad behavior, Judah’s two most egregious tantrums – heaving a stool at referee Jay Nady at the conclusion of his 2003 loss to Kostya Tszyu and the two low blows that precipitated a riot in his loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. two years ago – have both taken place in Nevada.)
Particularly since Mosley refused to rise to the bait in yesterday’s appearance at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, the episode smacked a bit of gamesmanship, redolent of the runup to the 1989 Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns rematch.
Eight years after their 1981 welterweight classic, the two rivals were scheduled to meet in a super-middleweight unification fight at Caesars Palace when Hearns invoked the ‘S’ word at a pre-fight press conference.
Addressing Leonard, the Hit Man said “I think you want to be a bodybuilder. The way you pumped up, you look like you been taking steroids or something!”
Hearns’ trainer Emanuel Steward further fanned the flames when he said “I’m seriously considering asking (the commission) to test both boxers. I’ve been hearing rumors for some time. A source told me Leonard had been using steroids.”
Leonard’s lawyer Mike Trainer was outraged by Steward’s charge. “When Hearns said what he did was good theatre. It’s actually flattering that Ray looks that good, and I’m just glad Tommy noticed, but that’s a cheap shot coming from Emanuel.”
Trainer angrily challenged Steward to put up $100,000 in a side bet. “They can test Ray before the fight, after the fight, and they can take a break after the sixth round and test him then, too,” said Trainer. “We’ll see how good his sources are.”
Leonard, for his part, said that he had no objection to being tested, and innocently asked “How do you do it, anyway?”
Informed that it involved a urinalysis, Leonard grinned and said “In that case, can I do it right now?”
Although Nevada did not routinely test boxers for steroids two decades ago, Chuck Minker, the late executive director of the NSAC took the allegation seriously enough that he said testing might be considered if either camp requested it at the next day’s rules meeting.
Neither side did, and the matter was allowed to die.
“Emanuel knows how to ask,” shrugged Minker.
That the Mosley controversy might similarly expire on the vine seemed to be confirmed when Judah admitted that his side had little recourse should Golden Boy spurn its request for a blood test.
“What would I do? Threaten not to step into the ring?” said Zab. “That’s not gonna happen.”
As fate would have it, Mosley and Zab Judah hit New York on Tuesday, a day after the first BALCO-related trial got underway in San Francisco, and while the boxers were in the Big Apple to beat the drums for their May 31, 2008 HBO pay-per-view fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Judah and his new mouthpiece Michael Shinefield used the occasion to make it clear that they are not about to let sleeping drugs lie.
Shinefield said that on behalf of Judah he had formally asked Golden Boy to agree that both boxers undergo a blood test administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency to augment the urinalysis required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Plainly, the suggestion was that while Nevada’s extant procedures would detect conventional steroids, they wouldn’t address Human Growth Hormone.
Shinefield said that while the extraordinary measure would be an costly proposition, the Judah camp was prepared to pay the price of the blood test.
“It’s an expensive test, but we’re willing to pay for it,” said the Las Vegas-based lawyer. “Shane Mosley has admitted that he took steroids in the past, so this is a concern. After all, we’re talking about a sport that’s all about strength and power.”
Shinefield said that Mosley, through his promoters, has been dismissive of the proposal. “They accused us of gamesmanship and said we were posturing,” said the lawyer. “Their response was that they weren’t asking for extra security for Zab.”
They didn’t have to, noted Shinefield, acknowledging that in reinstating Judah’s boxing license, the Nevada Commission “flat-out told Zab that next time he’d be banned forever.” (In a career marked by bad behavior, Judah’s two most egregious tantrums – heaving a stool at referee Jay Nady at the conclusion of his 2003 loss to Kostya Tszyu and the two low blows that precipitated a riot in his loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. two years ago – have both taken place in Nevada.)
Particularly since Mosley refused to rise to the bait in yesterday’s appearance at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, the episode smacked a bit of gamesmanship, redolent of the runup to the 1989 Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns rematch.
Eight years after their 1981 welterweight classic, the two rivals were scheduled to meet in a super-middleweight unification fight at Caesars Palace when Hearns invoked the ‘S’ word at a pre-fight press conference.
Addressing Leonard, the Hit Man said “I think you want to be a bodybuilder. The way you pumped up, you look like you been taking steroids or something!”
Hearns’ trainer Emanuel Steward further fanned the flames when he said “I’m seriously considering asking (the commission) to test both boxers. I’ve been hearing rumors for some time. A source told me Leonard had been using steroids.”
Leonard’s lawyer Mike Trainer was outraged by Steward’s charge. “When Hearns said what he did was good theatre. It’s actually flattering that Ray looks that good, and I’m just glad Tommy noticed, but that’s a cheap shot coming from Emanuel.”
Trainer angrily challenged Steward to put up $100,000 in a side bet. “They can test Ray before the fight, after the fight, and they can take a break after the sixth round and test him then, too,” said Trainer. “We’ll see how good his sources are.”
Leonard, for his part, said that he had no objection to being tested, and innocently asked “How do you do it, anyway?”
Informed that it involved a urinalysis, Leonard grinned and said “In that case, can I do it right now?”
Although Nevada did not routinely test boxers for steroids two decades ago, Chuck Minker, the late executive director of the NSAC took the allegation seriously enough that he said testing might be considered if either camp requested it at the next day’s rules meeting.
Neither side did, and the matter was allowed to die.
“Emanuel knows how to ask,” shrugged Minker.
That the Mosley controversy might similarly expire on the vine seemed to be confirmed when Judah admitted that his side had little recourse should Golden Boy spurn its request for a blood test.
“What would I do? Threaten not to step into the ring?” said Zab. “That’s not gonna happen.”