By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com sat down with promoter Lou DiBella and grilled him on the issue of random drug testing and whether or not a blood test for performance enhancing drugs is something that boxing needs as a mandatory pre and post fight requirement. DiBella's young charge, WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, is going up against Shane Mosley in a unification fight on January 30 in Las Vegas.
Mosley admitted to inadvertently using performance enhancing drugs for his 2003 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Mosley never failed a drug test. Back in 2003, the Nevada State Athletic Commission did not have the necessary tests in place to catch fighters who were using illegal substances that were being manufactured for the sole purpose of "beating drug tests." At the present, the NSAC believe their mandatory pre and post-fight urinalysis will detect any performance enhancing agent - including those used by Mosley in 2003.
The biggest controversy in boxing is the issue of random blood tests for the super-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather and his team are demanding random blood tests for both fighters, including the ability to have both boxers tested for performance enhancing drugs within 30-days of the fight [tentative for March 13]. Pacquiao is open to taking blood test, but not within 30-days of the fight.
Mayweather is advised by the mysterious Al Haymon, who is also the manager for Andre Berto. Haymon is a driving force behind Team Mayweather's demand for random blood tests. Pacquiao has never failed a drug test or admitted to using any performance enhancing drugs. Mosley has admitted to using inadvertently using illegal substances.
There is an obvious question. Why would Haymon push for Pacquiao to get tested....but not Mosley?
DiBella is realistic. He knows Berto doesn't have the industry status or the leverage of a Pacquiao or a Mayweather to make those kind of demands. Does he think there should have been additional tests involved with Mosley-Berto? Yes he does. But DiBella is not only thinking about Mosley-Berto. He would like to see stricter drug testing procedures in every major fight - because there are athletes out there, even in boxing, who are always looking for ways to beat the system.
"Of course he should be tested but we signed contract without those requirements. I'm not going to call for any changes now. I don't think it's appropriate to ask for changes subsequent to making the deal. The reason we didn't request the [blood] test is because we were on a timeframe and I had to accept that I wasn't going to change the Nevada State Athletic Commission rules," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.
"I didn't have the leverage with the younger fighter [as opposed to the leverage of a Mayweather or Pacquiao] to force Shane Mosley into that situation. Shane has admitted to violations in that area in the past and would be subject to the penalty of law if he did it again. I hope and I trust that he's smart enough that he stopped the inappropriate performance enhancement."
DiBella states his case by discussing the history of the sport in the last few years. Boxing needs a stricter drug test protocol, DiBella says, and the last few years are proof.
"It's been proven by Shane and a number of fighters who have been caught using performance enhancing drugs, or admitted to them. We had Shane, Fernando Vargas, James Toney, Francois Botha. This is not a sport like baseball where you hit a ball. You are hitting another human being. We've even had a fighter load his gloves. As a sport we should address these cheating problems and ask the regulators to do the same," DiBella said.