by David P. Greisman

A doctor suspected of distributing performance-enhancing drugs to bicyclists, soccer players and tennis players also allegedly might have had boxers as clients, according to Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS.

The two boxers named are French former 140-pound titleholder Souleymane M’baye and Spanish 122-pound fighter Kiko Martinez. The article says they would have been working with Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes prior to his arrest in May 2006.

The article does not provide evidence that M’Baye and Martinez actually received banned substances from Fuentes, though it does note a May 2006 meeting in Madrid, Spain, in which police found the doctor meeting with the boxers, a trainer and a cycling team’s marketing director. A police recording also allegedly has Fuentes discussing putting together “a kit” of substances for a boxer but worrying about another country’s anti-doping laws.

M’Baye told another newspaper that he was introduced to Martinez in Madrid. Martinez’s team, meanwhile, told Diario AS that the boxer only met once with Fuentes but nothing else came of it because the doctor was arrested.

Fuentes is presently on trial in Spain “for public health offenses,” as the country “had no anti-doping law until 2006,” according to British newspaper The Daily Mail.

M’baye is now 38 and last fought in July 2011, suffering a 12th-round stoppage to welterweight Ismael El Massoudi. That defeat brought his record to 39-4-1 with 21 knockouts, according to BoxRec.com. He is scheduled to fight tonight (March 21) in Hungary against a 7-11 opponent named Laszlo Haaz.

Martinez, 27, also is coming off a loss, having been stopped in nine rounds this past February by Carl Frampton. He is now 27-4 with 19 knockouts and is slated as fighting on April 27 against an 18-9-1 foe named Damian Marchiano.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter @fightingwords2 or send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com