good read...steroids in boxing (8/8/07)

Steroids in The Sweet Science By Robert Morales Sitting in on Monday’s meeting of the California State Athletic Commission was an eye-opener of sorts. Two boxers and four MMA fighters were scheduled to appeal their respective penalties for having tested positive for steroids after recent bouts. The two boxers were James “Lights Out” Toney and Danny Batchelder, both of whom tested positive after Toney won a split-decision over Batchelder on May 24 in San Jose. Interestingly, Batchelder was a no-show, even though he asked for the appeal. His suspension of 1 year and a fine of $2,500 were upheld. Toney had in tow his attorney, Arnold Joseph, and his promoter, Dan Goossen. All three spoke during a period of extenuation and mitigation inside the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown Los Angeles. When they finished, Toney had his suspension cut in half to six months; his fine remained $2,500. Toney, to no one’s surprise, did not admit to knowingly taking Stanozolol and Boldenone. But the whole thing was very thought provoking. How common have steroids become in our sport? And what’s going to happen the first time a fighter is either killed or seriously injured by an opponent who is jacked on steroids? There haven’t been a tremendous amount of positive tests. Fernando Vargas tested positive after being knocked out by Oscar De La Hoya in September 2002, Toney previously tested positive after beating John Ruiz in April 2005, Orlando Salido did likewise after he took the featherweight championship from Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero last November. Those are some of the bigger names that have been busted. Certainly, there have been a few more. But we’re not talking an abundance of positive test results. Still, it is a concern. Dan Goossen and Bob Arum, two of our most respected promoters, were asked Tuesday to voice their opinions. Neither came off like he was ready to sound an alarm. Goossen, in particular, said it was much to do about nothing. “What I believe is going to happen is, it's going to be a lot less prevalent and probably non-existent in our business in a very short period of time,” Goossen said of steroid use. “One of the reasons is that using steroids is not beneficial to fighters. It's beneficial to football players, it's beneficial to baseball players, it’s beneficial to wrestlers. But it's not for a fighter.” Goossen said that over the past few years, more and more boxers have started to partake in strength training. In doing so, they have brought specialized strength trainers into their camps. “Once they started doing strength training, it seemed like the steroids became a little bit more available to them and useful for strength training,” Goossen said. “But I believe it's because of the environment that some of these trainers might have come from. But I think more and more fighters are realizing that not only is it illegal in our sport, but something that is not beneficial to them.” Goossen was asked why he believes steroids do not benefit a fighter the way they do athletes in other sports. Goossen was reminded that after De La Hoya stopped Vargas in the 11th round, De La Hoya talked about how strong Vargas was in the first half of the fight. In other words, he knew Vargas could crack, but he didn’t know Vargas could crack quite like he was in the first six rounds. Remember the deer-in-the-headlights look De La Hoya had on his face early on? That’s why. Goossen was quick to answer. “Well, one reason is that Oscar won that fight,” he said, offering what he believes is proof that the steroids did not help Vargas. “As much as it might have had a positive (effect) making Vargas' body look good, it had a detrimental effect that it certainly didn’t overcome a fighter that wasn't on steroids.” Goossen has been around a long time in this business. He is old-school all the way. Which means he doesn’t believe that being muscle-bound is an advantage to a boxer. “I just believe that for a boxer's, I guess, criteria for being in the best shape of your life, it doesn’t have anything to do with having a beautiful-looking body,” he said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with muscles because muscles have been proven to slow down the fighter's ability inside the ring, whether it's through his quickness throwing punches, or whether it's his extension throwing punches or just other negative impact having muscles on a fighter’s body. It's never been a sport where muscles were an ingredient for success.” Much of what Goossen said holds water. But we go back to the aftermath of Vargas-De La Hoya. Doctors said they were not surprised that Vargas seemed so strong early, and they were also not astonished that he seemed to tire in the second half. The steroids, they said, were likely at the root. Now, perhaps a fighter being on steroids against an opponent of equal or better talent might not benefit that much from them, as shown in Vargas-De La Hoya. But what about the steroid-filled fighter who has a much weaker opponent? We see mismatches all the time. That’s where it can get scary. Arum said he wasn’t an expert on the subject. But he admitted that the scenario of a juiced fighter seriously injuring an opponent is something to consider. “Obviously, steroids give some athletes an unfair advantage and therefore in a sport as dangerous as boxing, it can have some bad repercussions,” he said. “I’m not a doctor, but it seems logical to me.” But Arum, like Goossen, downplayed the situation if for no other reason than he doesn’t believe there are that many boxers who are indulging. “Yes, I’m concerned about it because we shouldn’t have it,” Arum said. “But it is not the problem that it is in other sports like MMA, like Tour de France, like professional football. It’s not baseball. It’s not as prevalent in boxing, but I’m concerned because I would like it to be a situation where nobody used it. “Up to a couple of years ago they never even tested for steroids. And there were some rumors every once in a while about certain heavyweights who had gone up in weight who were on steroids, but they were just rumors. And you never got the lighter-weight guys who had to make weight; they would never use steroids because it was harder to make weight if they were using steroids. So when Vargas used steroids in the De La Hoya fight, I was really shocked.” OK, so according to Goossen and Arum, the steroid issue as it relates to boxing is not that big of a deal at this point in time. Tell you what, though, the first time something really bad happens in the ring where steroids are involved, it is going to be a very big deal. The family of the injured or dead party will wonder if their loved one would not have been seriously injured had his opponent been clean. And the responsible fighter is going to have to live with the consequences the rest of his life. This reporter has spoken with several fighters who have killed others in the ring – Gabriel Ruelas and Albert “Tweety” Davila, just to name two. These two terrific gentlemen said they felt about as badly as they could feel. Like them, most boxers are great guys. But the first one that is loaded on steroids and kills someone in the ring is going to have to deal with guilt much worse than that felt by Ruelas and Davila. Robert Morales can be reached at rmorales@15rounds.com