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On October 12, 2013 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO welterweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley faces Mexican modern-day legend Juan Manuel Marquez. The fight is what both men are inexplicably doing instead of fighting Manny Pacquiao again. The fight is a dangerous one. Marquez is fresh off a spectacular, career-defining one-punch execution of Pacquiao and Bradley is coming off a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Ruslan Provodnikov that saw the Coachella Valley native pushed to his very limits.
But there is a fight going on as preparations begin that may prevent the bout from ever happening. At the press conference announcing the fight in Los Angeles, Top Rank founder Bob Arum announced he would not be honoring the contract of Bradley, who requested strict anti-doping tests be performed by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). His manager, Cameron Dunkin and wife/adviser, Monica both have confirmed in media outlets that this is true. However, Arum has decided to pay Nevada to just do it the way VADA and USADA do it.
As pointed out in the following link, it isn’t that simple:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-bo...uez-vs-bradley
Arum’s proposal to create yet another testing organization through the Nevada commission is not going to be an easy nor timely endeavor. It’s not impossible but within the timeframe of Bradley’s contractual agreement, the Arum-Nevada Testing Agency has already failed to meet Bradley’s contracted deadline to begin testing.
Bradley’s contract called for VADA and USADA testing to begin on July 13. By the time you read this, it will be July 30. 17 days of no testing. 17 days that both fighters have trained unchecked.
Bradley spoke with me and co-host of *********************.com, David Duenez about the failed testing.
“That’s been a headache, man,” said Bradley. “That right there has been a big headache. I mean, Marquez disagreed…I guess [Arum] disagreed about having the drug testing. He didn’t want VADA and USADA. I guess [Arum] got involved and hired another outside agency. I believe it’s WADA…or something. I have no idea who they are, what they do, what they test. I have asked for all this information. I haven’t received it yet. I think the Nevada commission is involved now. They are going to be kind of like the ones that, I guess, the ones that deliver all the dirty laundry. Should any of us test positive, then there are going to be consequences behind it. There are still many unanswered questions about this company coming in. I really don’t know what company it is and what they allow.”
The reason Bradley has so many questions is twofold:
1) It appears his promoter is not informing him of the details of the newly-forming Arum-Nevada Testing Agency.
2) Because it doesn’t exist yet and Arum, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer and his legal team, et al are doubtlessly finding out how complicated this whole process is.
“It was WADA or it was something,” said Bradley.
For the record, WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency. They do not conduct tests so much as set the WADA Code, the world standard for banned substances, allowances, etc. They accredit labs such as those in Utah, Montreal or Los Angeles used by VADA and USADA. They also accredit sample collectors such as the ones not used by Nevada.
This fight will be the first in which Nevada will have to use WADA Code and not just pick and choose the parts they like such as their 6:1 T/E ratio, which is 50% greater than the WADA Code’s 4:1 T/E ratio. Doubtless, the NSAC is discovering this as it learns which labs conduct the tests that VADA and USADA use to varying degrees.
In any case, the clock is ticking. 17 days and counting. It begs the question: Why reinvent the wheel when VADA or USADA are readily available?
“I mean, yeah; exactly, man,” said Bradley. “I think VADA is definitely the best one out there based on how they test for synthetic steroids. A lot of these tests, USADA don’t really test for it. I don’t know if these other agencies test for synthetic steroids. I’m really comfortable with VADA because they test everything. I guess Marquez’s camp is not comfortable with VADA whatsoever. I just think it’s unbelievable.”
What Bradley meant by “synthetic steroids” is the athlete drug of choice, synthetic testosterone. One need only Google “synthetic testosterone” and any sport you can think of to see his statement is true. VADA uses Carbon Isotope Ratio testing, the only test that detects synthetic testosterone, on 100% of their samples as policy. While USADA has the capability and budget to conduct CIR on every test, VADA is the only testing agency in any sport currently doing so on 100% of samples as policy.
And that is the main difference between the companies. A simple strict philosophy of using CIR to detect a drug that athletes are apparently using more and more. In an age when MLB’s Ryan Braun gets to keep his MVP award after getting caught by CIR for testosterone, Tim Bradley is that rare athlete who actually wants to be tested tougher than anyone else.
Why?
But there is a fight going on as preparations begin that may prevent the bout from ever happening. At the press conference announcing the fight in Los Angeles, Top Rank founder Bob Arum announced he would not be honoring the contract of Bradley, who requested strict anti-doping tests be performed by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). His manager, Cameron Dunkin and wife/adviser, Monica both have confirmed in media outlets that this is true. However, Arum has decided to pay Nevada to just do it the way VADA and USADA do it.
As pointed out in the following link, it isn’t that simple:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-bo...uez-vs-bradley
Arum’s proposal to create yet another testing organization through the Nevada commission is not going to be an easy nor timely endeavor. It’s not impossible but within the timeframe of Bradley’s contractual agreement, the Arum-Nevada Testing Agency has already failed to meet Bradley’s contracted deadline to begin testing.
Bradley’s contract called for VADA and USADA testing to begin on July 13. By the time you read this, it will be July 30. 17 days of no testing. 17 days that both fighters have trained unchecked.
Bradley spoke with me and co-host of *********************.com, David Duenez about the failed testing.
“That’s been a headache, man,” said Bradley. “That right there has been a big headache. I mean, Marquez disagreed…I guess [Arum] disagreed about having the drug testing. He didn’t want VADA and USADA. I guess [Arum] got involved and hired another outside agency. I believe it’s WADA…or something. I have no idea who they are, what they do, what they test. I have asked for all this information. I haven’t received it yet. I think the Nevada commission is involved now. They are going to be kind of like the ones that, I guess, the ones that deliver all the dirty laundry. Should any of us test positive, then there are going to be consequences behind it. There are still many unanswered questions about this company coming in. I really don’t know what company it is and what they allow.”
The reason Bradley has so many questions is twofold:
1) It appears his promoter is not informing him of the details of the newly-forming Arum-Nevada Testing Agency.
2) Because it doesn’t exist yet and Arum, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer and his legal team, et al are doubtlessly finding out how complicated this whole process is.
“It was WADA or it was something,” said Bradley.
For the record, WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency. They do not conduct tests so much as set the WADA Code, the world standard for banned substances, allowances, etc. They accredit labs such as those in Utah, Montreal or Los Angeles used by VADA and USADA. They also accredit sample collectors such as the ones not used by Nevada.
This fight will be the first in which Nevada will have to use WADA Code and not just pick and choose the parts they like such as their 6:1 T/E ratio, which is 50% greater than the WADA Code’s 4:1 T/E ratio. Doubtless, the NSAC is discovering this as it learns which labs conduct the tests that VADA and USADA use to varying degrees.
In any case, the clock is ticking. 17 days and counting. It begs the question: Why reinvent the wheel when VADA or USADA are readily available?
“I mean, yeah; exactly, man,” said Bradley. “I think VADA is definitely the best one out there based on how they test for synthetic steroids. A lot of these tests, USADA don’t really test for it. I don’t know if these other agencies test for synthetic steroids. I’m really comfortable with VADA because they test everything. I guess Marquez’s camp is not comfortable with VADA whatsoever. I just think it’s unbelievable.”
What Bradley meant by “synthetic steroids” is the athlete drug of choice, synthetic testosterone. One need only Google “synthetic testosterone” and any sport you can think of to see his statement is true. VADA uses Carbon Isotope Ratio testing, the only test that detects synthetic testosterone, on 100% of their samples as policy. While USADA has the capability and budget to conduct CIR on every test, VADA is the only testing agency in any sport currently doing so on 100% of samples as policy.
And that is the main difference between the companies. A simple strict philosophy of using CIR to detect a drug that athletes are apparently using more and more. In an age when MLB’s Ryan Braun gets to keep his MVP award after getting caught by CIR for testosterone, Tim Bradley is that rare athlete who actually wants to be tested tougher than anyone else.
Why?
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