By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – If Adam Kownacki were to test positive for even the smallest trace of a banned substance and Chris Arreola wasn’t informed before they fought Saturday night, Arreola would sue the New York State Athletic Commission.

“I’d be furious,” Arreola told BoxingScene.com. “I’m not one to sue, but I’d be suing. I’m not a guy to sue, but like, come on now – you’re playing with my life! You are messing with someone’s life when you’re taking steroids. You realize that. You’re going in the ring, 10-ounce gloves, and you’re getting an advantage from taking an illegal substance like that. Come on, man.”

Arreola couldn’t believe it when he learned that the British Boxing Board of Control didn’t inform fellow heavyweight Oscar Rivas of an adverse finding in Dillian Whyte’s pre-fight testing for performance enhancing drugs before their July 20 bout in London. The National Anti-Doping Panel cleared Whyte to fight Rivas at a hearing that reportedly took place the morning of their fight at O2 Arena.

“I was very surprised about that,” Arreola said. “I guess they wanted to get paid, right?”

Arreola didn’t specify whom he meant by “they,” but the British Boxing Board of Control’s lack of transparency in dealing with Colombia’s Rivas and his team has reverberated throughout a sport still trying to better prevent PED use. Kownacki condemned the way that the Rivas-Whyte situation was handled, too.

“That’s scary,” Kownacki said. [They knew] three days before the fight. I mean, you’ve gotta play by the rules. I don’t know where the commission is, but that’s what they’re here for. You have sanctioning bodies to overrule that stuff. And I think they should set their foot down and be like, ‘Yo, this is not the way we do it. This is the way we do it.’ And that gives the belt more credibility, I think, where you have an organization that’s running the system right.”

The World Boxing Council, which sanctioned Whyte-Rivas as a fight for its interim heavyweight title, wasn’t alerted by the British Boxing Board of Control or United Kingdom Anti-Doping that there were any adverse findings in its testing of Whyte. UKAD oversees 24 hours-per-day, seven days-per-week, 365-days-per-year testing for the British Boxing Board of Control.

 

The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association handles testing for the WBC’s “Clean Boxing Program.” VADA confirmed to BoxingScene.com on Thursday that Whyte completed its program before and after beating Rivas by unanimous decision without any adverse findings.

The WBC has since suspended Whyte’s status as its interim heavyweight champion and its mandatory challenger for champion Deontay Wilder until the matter is resolved.

Regardless, Kownacki would sue, too, if Arreola or any of his opponents were to test positive for a PED and he wasn’t made aware of it until after their fight.

“That’s not fair,” Kownacki said. “We risk our lives. Especially that fight was a grueling 12 rounds. [Rivas] managed to drop him, too, towards the end of the fight. It’s a scary thought, man, especially with the two fighters dying [last week].”

Kownacki respects the way the Jarrell Miller-Anthony Joshua situation was handled in the spring. Miller is Kownacki’s close friend, but he fully understands why Miller immediately was removed from that fight for Joshua’s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles once Miller tested positive for three PEDs.

The timing made it much easier to find a replacement for Miller because Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, were made aware of Miller’s test results six-plus weeks before they were supposed to fight June 1 at Madison Square Garden. Hearn’s company, Matchroom Boxing, also promoted the Whyte-Rivas card.

“They knew three days before,” Kownacki said, referring to the British Boxing Board of Control’s handling of Whyte-Rivas. “That’s messed up. My friend, Jarrell Miller, he popped and the fight was off right away and they made a big scene. And this guy, like, ‘Oh, it’s our guy, so we let him slide,’ which is messed up. And that’s favoritism.

“I don’t think that can go on if boxing wants to keep growing as a sport. You know? If you wanna be on an international level, everything has to be done fair. I mean, obviously your favorite guy’s not gonna win all the time. That’s even competition, which I think is so great here in America, in the States, where you have an even playing field and you can achieve whatever you want.”

Brooklyn’s Kownacki (19-0, 15 KOs) and Arreola (38-5-1, 33 KOs, 2 NC), of Riverside, California, each have been tested by VADA and the NYSAC in advance of their 12-round main event Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (FOX; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).

“You know what? The sad thing is that I believe the sport’s trying to do the best it can by testing the fighters,” Arreola said. “But the fighters gotta hold themselves accountable. The coaches have to hold themselves accountable, also, because the coaches are [working with] the fighters every freaking day. Not only should the fighters be in trouble, so should the coaches, the strength and conditioning coaches, whoever it is. Someone has to be held accountable for the actions of a fighter taking steroids.”

Arreola didn’t discuss Whyte specifically. He has no tolerance, however, for fighters that take shortcuts by using PEDs.

“Personally, I have no respect for someone that steps in the ring that does steroids – none whatsoever,” Arreola said. “You’re playing with my life. You’re playing with someone else’s life. Regardless man, if you don’t have the balls to get in the ring with what you got, and what’s legal, then you don’t belong in the ring. You should get suspended for at least a couple years, man.”

Kownacki completely agrees.

“That’s why I’m in the VADA testing, so they can test me whenever they need to,” Kownacki said. “Hopefully, that picks up and it gets used more because we’re risking our lives. I don’t think it’s fair when somebody gets an advantage, takes steroids and PEDs. [They] recover faster, have bigger muscles than a guy like me.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.