Right now, we should be talking about last weekend's incredible rematch between Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan; perhaps discussing if Khan will give Peterson a third fight considering the razor-thin decision he was on the right side of this time around, or maybe that Peterson won conclusively enough to challenge the best from here on out. That fight, however, didn't happen because Peterson thought it was intelligent on his part to use synthetic testosterone, a result that was found using VADA protocols. Well, at least we'd still have Victor Ortiz's rematch with Andre Berto's to look forward to. After all, if anyone could pass those tests, it would be Berto, especially with the head of VADA as your strength and conditioning coach. That, however, didn't work out too well either, with Berto being flagged for the anabolic steroid norandrosterone (also known as nandrolone) and that fight went up in flames.
Two much anticipated fights canceled because two fighters tested positive for an illegal substance within two weeks of each other. For the people in the know, we always suspected that, in terms of PEDs in the sport, it was bad, but it being THIS bad took even the most cynical observer of the sport aback. What really should serve as a wake-up call for boxing, however, just may be another incident that gets swept under the rug to keep the status quo, and it's hard not to see it going that route. If you always thought that money was the main reason why boxing doesn't agree to better testing in the first place, then you have the reason why they will still not embrace it in lieu of these recent results. Peterson and Berto cost their promoters and the state athletic commissions hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars, and when that happened, that pretty much sealed the deal in terms of athletic commissions being eager to change anything up in the long term. Post-fight piss tests may not be very thorough, but they're cheap and they don't even have to do it all the time.
Berto's recent flagging for a very minimal trace of anabolic steroids has met a huge amount of pushback, not only from the Berto camp, but the head of VADA as well. The catch here is that this man, Victor Conte, is also Berto's strength and conditioning coach. That's one hell of a conflict of interest there; the head of an anti-doping agency splitting time as strength and conditioning coach. Not to mention, you know, the fact that Conte is the most notorious steroid peddler of recent memory. Conte has had the loudest voice in terms of maintaining Berto's innocence, citing that Berto took a substance unknown to him that was contaminated with norandrosterone and isn't a large enough dose for it to serve as a performance enhancer. FightHype's own Percy Crawford likened the amount found to taking a hit of marijuana. While Conte is also trying to distance himself from this incident, being that he served time in federal prison for his role in the BALCO scandal, he also is minimizing the results of the VADA findings and making it seem flawed.
We soon forget that Peterson initially passed the VADA test ahead of his fight with Khan, but when a CIR (Carbon Isotope Rating) test was administered, they discovered the synthetic testosterone from the first fight back in December. Peterson's problem was that he never disclosed the testosterone pellet therapy with the Nevada commission, who would have been a-okay with it thanks to their ineptitude or regard for fighter safety. In 2003, Darryl Hudson provided the commission with a run-down of what Shane Mosley was taking for his rematch against Oscar De La Hoya, the fight that linked Mosley to BALCO and Conte, and not even an eyebrow was raised and Mosley passed the drug test post-fight with flying colors. So we have a test that yields a negative result, but is positive anyway, then a positive test that's really negative? Does this sound like reliable results? It sounds more like rolling the dice to me and I'm sure there are several fighters and promoters that'll think the same thing.
Another reason why this foray into cleaning up the sport will fail is because it is voluntary for the fighters to conduct the testing. Unless the state commissions upgrade their mandatory testing, then VADA and WADA will never be used to a significant capacity due to, once again, expenses and the possibility of a failed test. As it stands, fighters will always fail a post-fight drug test and not one prior when it does happen just to be sure that not only the event takes place but the fighter gets fined by the commission and that's more money in their pocket. Why would they just stop doing that when the end result is money in the pocket?
I'm of the opinion that Berto and Peterson should have had the book thrown at them and made examples of to show the seriousness of PEDs in the sport, and that if you are holding, you will be caught no matter how little. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, dished harsher punishments to fewer people involved in the New Orleans Saints bounty incident for one reason and that was to set the expectation that you do not, under any circumstances, break the rules. Sounds like a hell of a way to get the point across to me. At the end of the day, the testing will be buried much in the way the electric car was because it is perceived as a threat to the money-making mindset of the people that make this sport go round. Fighters will refuse the testing; as a matter of fact, Conte himself said on his Twitter account that VADA offered their services to the upcoming Manny Pacquiao/Timothy Bradley fight, but were declined. So much for random testing not being a problem.
There is one way and one way only that the old farts and greedy bloodsuckers realize that it's not a game in there, and that is when somebody juices up, is not tested, and ends up killing a fighter in the ring as a result. That'll launch a government investigation into boxing where I'm sure the dirt they'll find will be enough to make a walkway to the moon. Let's hope it doesn't come down to that, but worry in the meantime that it might have to.
Danny Howard can be reached for comments or questions at dhoward@fighthype.com, Facebook, or follow him on Twitter (@DBHOWARD126). Also don't miss an episode of FightHype Radio, the baddest two hours of boxing on the planet, starting at 8pm EST.