Funny I just read this a few moments ago. Very good article. For those who haven't clicked on the link, he covers 4 main points. 1)What the PED's are, what they do, the risks and the benefits 2)How PED's are related to boxing 3)The Mayweather/Pacquiao negotiation fiasco 4)The consequences and what we can learn from it. Quite long, but well worth the read, extremely informative.
Fantastic piece of journalism. :bears: I, as have most of us on here, have followed this situation closely, but still learnt a lot from reading this. Thoroughly researched, very informative and thought provoking. It is a heavy read, but i urge everyone to read it.
nice quote by John Ruiz: "People go crazy about the effect that steroids have when a bat hits a ball. What about when a fist hits a head?”
Conte says that PED testing in boxing today is “IQ testing,” nothing more. In a recent interview with Steve Kim of Maxboxing.com, he declared, “The loopholes are so big that you could drive a Mack Truck through them. It’s really a joke. Traditional testing in boxing is basically worthless other than the detection of some types of stimulant before and after a fight. The testing is, almost by design, inept, and this basic ineptness breeds the use of performance enhancing drugs.”
fucking brilliant how he ended putting Golden Boy in the spotlight. Now the ball's on their court in regards of cleaning the sport.
Do you guys really care about PED's? I don't. Look, Ruiz is a talentless puke. It wouldn't matter if he took PED's. He'd still suck. If you don't want to take PED's then you don't deserve the big bucks. If I had even above average size and talent, I would have definitely juiced just to get a free college education much less the pros. Who cares. Floyd probably juices too he just doesn't have enough natural testosterone to be exciting.
Good article: It's unfortunate that this has to be pointed out: The dialogue that unfolded with regard to PED testing was unfair to Pacquiao. Tim McKeown put it best when he wrote, “Mayweather is demanding that Pacquiao prove himself innocent of a transgression that only Mayweather and his people are alleging. I know what you’re thinking: ‘If Pacquiao doesn’t have anything to hide, why doesn’t he agree to blood testing?’ That’s become the default position in today’s society. Stop at this checkpoint; walk through this machine; hold your arms out for the wand. We’ve become so accustomed to proving our innocence in everyday life that we forgot how the system is supposed to work. This is a guy who is being accused of a crime by the other side, and he’s being called upon to prove his innocence despite the complete absence of evidence suggesting guilt. A related point to keep in mind: “Here are some facts,†Al Bernstein recently wrote. “Manny Pacquiao is one of the hardest working and most disciplined fighters in the sport. Manny Pacquiao’s success as he moved up in weight has been fueled mostly by a change in style and tactics rather than added strength. One of the most astonishing things to me is the folks who somehow believe that all of a sudden it’s reasonable to assume that Pacquiao, above all other boxers, needs a special set of testing rules to participate in a big fight. No performance enhancing drugs can change your technique. It was not power that made the difference. The difference was speed, ring generalship, combination punching, and a vastly improved defense.†This point reminds me of a discussion I was having with another poster: Originally Posted by REEDsART Pac Beat Dela w/SPEED & SKILL...He Beat Hatton w/SPEED, SKILL & Obviously SOME Power...But Hatton was Soooooooooo WIDEfuckingOPEN in his Attack that he Actually ENHANCED Pac's Power on his OWN... Satisfied???.... REED:dunno: So by your own definition: (If Manny wins via STRENGTH & POWER, he's on PED's If he wins via SPEED & SKILL, he'll DESERVE ALL Credit (not on PED's). He could not have been on PED's against DLH or Hatton and deserves "all the credit" for those victories. In that case, on what grounds can you justify PBF's unprecedented (not included in the rules, NOT as per standard procedure) stipulation, unless he just doesn't want to fight Manny? Needless to say, this question was never answered. Having said that, it does seem that more stringent testing in boxing does have to be looked at, so it may turn out to be a positive that this was brought up in that respect. However the responsibility for the legislation is not with a particular boxers people, and the motivation should be to clean up the sport, not to avoid a fight and discredit an opponent.
By far and away the best article I have read on this whole sorry debacle. Half an hour well spent. MTF :bears:
The article pretty much is a SUMMARY of what transpired to kill the fight with added information on EPD's. Most likely Mayweather will WAIT for the Mosley-Berto outcome and regardless of who his next opponent will be, if he is to fight again, will have to undergo mandatory RANDOM Olympic testing. And that also goes for EVERY fighter under Golden Boy Promotions...But Mosley and Berto are with G... What?!?! It's Ok, as long as the fighter is NOT Manny Pacquaio.::
What is the number 1 maxim in boxing? The motivation isn't important. It wouldn't have discredited an opponent who was willing to be tested.
If I am supposed to believe Ariza Manny must be the biggest and greatest bitch that ever laced them up. A lung capacity test is too invasive for Manny? You BLOW into a fucking TUBE. Give me a break. Nice twist at the end with Oscar, but let´s be honest nobody in boxing wants these tests. Oscar works with Mosley, Arum works with Margarito, Manny works with Roach, Ward works with Conte, everybody worked with Roy. It is surprising like Ruiz said, who was a victim twice (vs. Toney and Roy), that there is not more of an uproar in boxing, but the sport is so decentralized and grounded in dirt, it´s impossible to guarantee every fighter is subject to the same testing. Often doping bans in other states or countries aren´t even honoured.
:bears: You are a formidable, intelligent Kraut,... I'd hate to compete in a technological arms race with you during the midst of a world war. Great post.
Not to mention, the issue of $. Like Hauser mentioned, the "powers that be", would be reluctant to cancel a big money fight days before it happens if a fighter is caught during testing. Thats another hurdle to overcome in changing the testing, and I don't see that changing anytime soon at all.
I think it will change relatively soon. As far as your scenario, it's not all that unlike not making weight. And there is more notice. There would need to be recourse for the 'guilty' fighter because of the possibility, however slight, of false positives, however. I would imagine there will be a standard clause along the lines of a guilty party forfeiting x % of his purse to the other fighter and/or commission.
