Comments Thread For: Fighting Words: Gamboa (Allegedly) Neither 1st Nor Last

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

by David P. Greisman - Each new name is no longer a surprise, but rather just another disappointment.

We know that athletes cheat, that so many will do so much to get ahead, to get their bodies to perform at an even higher level, to get more wins and to get more money. We know that seeking shortcuts is too common even outside of the world of sports, that high school and college students will plagiarize and share answers, all because the end result in so many facets of life can become more important than the means by which one arrives there.

But we still expect better. We don’t like cheaters, and we particularly don’t like it when cheaters prosper. It doesn’t matter how common it has become, or how aware we are that the practice is widespread and that the problem will probably always be greater than what we know for certain.

And so the allegations that Yuriorkis Gamboa received performance-enhancing drugs from what was purportedly an anti-aging clinic in Florida did not necessarily surprise us — not because of the fighter in question, but more due to the fact that the veil has long since been lifted on this less than savory aspect of our often otherwise Sweet Science.

We can recall that heavyweights Evander Holyfield and Jameel McCline were implicated nearly six years ago as being two of several athletes allegedly receiving performance-enhancing drugs from a pharmacy in Florida.

We can recall the positive drug tests that have surfaced with increasingly regularity.

And yet we can recognize that the testing being done for nearly every fight is far from ideal, that boxers and those providing them with performance enhancing drugs are able to exploit large loopholes to beat the tests. [Click Here To Read More]

[thuggery]

I'm disgusted by Gamboa's actions.

[turnedup]

Listen as long as guys like hereida/conte are allowed to work with boxers it'll continue..as long as promoters handle all the testing and dictate what gets tested for and what doesn't and even if the result is made public or not this will continue. Boxing is the most brutal sport with the most lax standards on earth. I believe 80% of boxers are dirty just like baseball players were at a certain point. Anytime you have the potential to earn millions upon millions of dollars and run little risk of getting caught cheating.....well there's going to be cheating going on. random testing all year round and forcing people who work with fighters to be federally licensed to do so would kill PED's..few will risk 5 year federal bids.

[bbos]

lets solve this problem once and for all...force all pro boxers to use PEDs. Now that everyone is enhanced, the common factor of PEDs will no longer be relevant because no one can gain an externally induced chemical and hormonal advantage.

Some will argue that this policy carries a risk to the participants health. To that I say, they are boxers, they are entering a ring and getting punched and getting injured anyways.

[Japanese Boxing]

Originally Posted by bbos

lets solve this problem once and for all...force all pro boxers to use PEDs. Now that everyone is enhanced, the common factor of PEDs will no longer be relevant because no one can gain an externally induced chemical and hormonal advantage.

Some will argue that this policy carries a risk to the participants health. To that I say, they are boxers, they are entering a ring and getting punched and getting injured anyways.

Steroids do not make you punch harder. So just allow them. Make legal amounts and have doctors cleared by athletic commissions to give guys their legalized amounts to maintain a healthy body. They will go in periodically (once a month) and they will do drug tests for other stuff or increased levels.

This is the best way to do it, you keep the cheaters from abusing and you make sure everyone is 100% healthy.

[Dr Rumack]

Originally Posted by turnedup

Listen as long as guys like hereida/conte are allowed to work with boxers it'll continue..as long as promoters handle all the testing and dictate what gets tested for and what doesn't and even if the result is made public or not this will continue. Boxing is the most brutal sport with the most lax standards on earth. I believe 80% of boxers are dirty just like baseball players were at a certain point. Anytime you have the potential to earn millions upon millions of dollars and run little risk of getting caught cheating.....well there's going to be cheating going on. random testing all year round and forcing people who work with fighters to be federally licensed to do so would kill PED's..few will risk 5 year federal bids.

You will eventually have to elevate PED use in pro-athletes to criminal status. What's more, you have to find a mechanism to punish the powerful stakeholders in the sport, the people who can actually change things. At the moment, the only major disincentive to use PEDs in boxing is the reaction of the fans. And if you're a big enough deal you don't have to worry about that too much either.

As Emanuel Steward said, is someone going to have to die before this stuff is taken seriously?

[~AK49~]

Originally Posted by Japanese Boxing

Steroids do not make you punch harder. So just allow them. Make legal amounts and have doctors cleared by athletic commissions to give guys their legalized amounts to maintain a healthy body. They will go in periodically (once a month) and they will do drug tests for other stuff or increased levels.

This is the best way to do it, you keep the cheaters from abusing and you make sure everyone is 100% healthy.

People will still look for an athletic edge over others, thats the whole point. The current testing is a joke, and can be beaten by any half knowledgeable person. Theres really no pointin setting limits, as others will still exploit said limits for an advantage.

And yes, steroids can make you punch harder. If people punch harder by technique + speed, what happens when they get even faster to add onto their technique?


^that said, an argument can be made that getting ko power and ending a fight earlier is safer than not having the brutal ko power and relentlessely pounding on somebodies head.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I always knew PED testing in boxing was woefully inadequate, but I didn't know it was quite as bad as this article spells out. It really is a joke. Some states don't even test for certain substances? Then you get guys reprimanded for smoking pot?

I've said it over and over, all those drug tests that supposedly "prove" a fighter is clean are meaningless. This article should convince a few more people of that.

[IdNod4u2]

If Pac is cool and dont have to admit anything then Gamboa is cool too.
The end justifies the means.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Originally Posted by Japanese Boxing

Steroids do not make you punch harder. So just allow them. Make legal amounts and have doctors cleared by athletic commissions to give guys their legalized amounts to maintain a healthy body. They will go in periodically (once a month) and they will do drug tests for other stuff or increased levels.

This is the best way to do it, you keep the cheaters from abusing and you make sure everyone is 100% healthy.

That is not true. Depending on the types of steroids, they can absolutely make you punch harder. They can make you faster, heal quicker, become stronger..etc.

It all depends on what you are taking, and for what reasons.