Holyfield Responds To Steroid Allegations

[Benny Leonard]

the problem with that is certain steroids arent detectable from what Ive heard. if they were so easily detectable and not easy to get around there'd be hundreds of busted professional athletes in all sports

that is true, but you have to try something. Athletes also mask or clean their systems.

[beez721]

Before or after Prison?
lets get specific.


If it was before, then he was always big and was big when he was around Cus, Atlas, Rooney, Jacobs, Cayton, and whoever else. If he was juiced, they knew it, were part of it, etc.

They would have been injecting a teenager.

no,,Im pretty certain he never used them before his prison sentence. steroids werent big in sports at that time

[Red_Menace]

no,,Im pretty certain he never used them before his prison sentence. steroids werent big in sports at that time

Steroids have been around a long time. Steroids appeared to become an epidemic in sports when detection improved, but the abuse is more sophisticated now. It will be a never-ending battle between the technology for detection and abuse.

[Benny Leonard]

Steroids have been around a long time. Steroids appeared to become an epidemic in sports when detection improved, but the abuse is more sophisticated now. It will be a never-ending battle between the technology for detection and abuse.

They have been around since the 1930's, but didn't have a big impact with athletes, mainly bodybuiders, until the 50's.

Amphatemines were bigger from what I heard. I also read an interview that supposedly even Sonny Liston started taking them.

Hitler was said to be big with the injections, however I am not sure how true it is.

[Hydro]

Definitely - here's one that goes into the whole scandal in more depth.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17368148/

It's front page news as others like Jose Canseco are being accused, as well.

thks.

the only one I read earlier was the Albany Times Union article.

[semjasa]

Of course he has used steriods, his hair fell out within a 12 month period a few years ago, and when he used to bulk up his face was always bloated, lol thought nit was common knowledge he used them

[Hydro]

I am sorry but Evander is one of the most hypocritical christians ever! the guy claims christian but he had to admit he fathered 9 kids out of wedlock and cheated on his wife.

are you guys gonna believe his word when he said he never took roids coming from the guy who said he never cheated on his wife before he was exposed?

Remember when Holyfield claimed he won the 1st Lewis fight, and tried to justify the decision by saying "the crowd don't judge no fight and don't never matter. The judges called fight a draw"? And then after the rematch Holyfield goes "ain't nobody that watched the fight can't not tell you that I won. Everyone know I win the fight'.

Seriously, I do believe he is sincere in his belief in God and everything. He just takes certain parts of the Bible and interprets it in a different way.

My uncle is the same way.

[cortdawg25]

If it's on the internet it just has to be true. Unamed sources?
If these so called lawmen went after REAL criminals with the intensity and ferver that they go after the Famous, our streets would be safe.
There are killers walking the streets in all major cities. I don't want to hear half assed stories about steroids.

amen to that!! The only people who really care are these people who couldn't never play sports in the first place. I don't know if Holyfield did or didn't, I don't really care. After every fight he got tested and was clean and that is all that matters.

[beez721]

Of course he has used steriods, his hair fell out within a 12 month period a few years ago, and when he used to bulk up his face was always bloated, lol thought nit was common knowledge he used them

thats another trait I forgot to mention. face bloating. morrison and briggs are examples of this

[Hydro]

Sports Illustrated reporters Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim are tracking the investigation of an illegal steroid distribution network that has implicated pro athletes. On Tuesday, they accompanied agents on a coordinated raid of an Orlando compound pharmacy and a Jupiter, Fla., "anti-aging" clinic that investigators allege conspired to fraudulently prescribe steroids, human growth hormone and other performance enhancing drugs over the Internet.

SI.com: In addition to major league outfielder Gary Matthews Jr., another prominent athlete whose name has surfaced in media reports is Evander Holyfield, the four-time heavyweight boxing champ. What do you know about his situation?

Llosa/Wertheim: Ironically, Holyfield's name does not appear in the law enforcement documents we reviewed. However, a patient by the name of "Evan Fields" caught investigators' attention. "Fields" shares the same birth date as Holyfield -- Oct. 19, 1962. The listed address for "Fields" was 794 Evander, Fairfield, Ga. 30213. Holyfield has a very similar address. When we called the phone number that, according to the documents, was associated with the "Fields" prescription, Holyfield answered.

SI.com: Is he tied to raids of compound pharmacies and "anti-aging" clinics as well?

Llosa/Wertheim: This case appears to be a little different. Rather than using the internet and receiving the prescriptions through the mail, "Fields" allegedly picked them up from a private Georgia urologist whose offices were raided as part of this ongoing investigation. But authorities tell us the drugs came from Applied Pharmacy, the Mobile, Ala., compound pharmacy the DEA raided last fall.

SI.com: Do you know which drugs were involved?

Llosa/Wertheim: According the records we reviewed, in June 2004, the individual that authorities believe to be Holyfield picked up three vials of testosterone, two vials of Glukor and injection supplies. Less than a week later, according to the document, he picked up five vials of Saizen, a brand of human growth hormone (HGH), and related supplies. In Sept. 2004, he returned for a follow-up visit for hypogonadism.

SI.com: Does Holyfield have an explanation?

Llosa/Wertheim: We contacted him today. He denied knowledge and offered to get back to us, which he never did. He did, however, release a statement through Main Events, the boxing promotion company. "I do not use steroids. I have never used steroids. I resent that my name has been linked to known steroid users by sources who refuse to be identified in order to generate publicity for their investigation. I'm disappointed that certain members of the media fell for this ploy and chose to use my name in headlines and publish my photo alongside stories ... about an investigation into a practice that has nothing to do with me or what I stand for."

SI.com: At 44, Holyfield is still fighting. What is boxing's policy with respect to steroids and HGH?

Llosa/Wertheim: Most commissions do ban steroids and HGH. But again -- and we can't stress this enough -- this investigation is about the chain of supply and this network. It's not about which athletes are or aren't using performance-enhancing drugs. The document makes no assertion that Holyfield used the drugs that he is alleged to have received.

Boxing is not like other sports where there is a league and union that agrees on standard policies such as drug testing. In boxing, anti-doping rules can vary by state commission. We spoke with several officials with the Nevada Athletic Commission, and while HGH is on a list of banned substances, boxers are not tested for it. Marc Ratner, the former head of the Nevada commission, also told us that boxers are only tested when they fight -- not out of competition. Still, a number of fighters in recent years, including James Toney and Fernando Vargas, have been sanctioned for using performance-enhancing drugs, serving suspensions of 90 days and nine months, respectively.

SI.com: Has Holyfield's name come up before?

Llosa/Wertheim: He has never tested positive. However Dr. Margaret Goodman, chairman of the medical advisory board of Nevada Athletic Commission, says that as early as 1994, when Holyfield fought Michael Moorer and suffered heart problems, the medical arm of the Commission questioned Holyfield about possible HGH use. "There were questions [because] the abnormalities Evander had with his heart were findings that could have been consistent with growth hormone use. The problem was there was no test and Evander denied any use of growth hormone."

Goodman went on to say that she believes that use of HGH is widespread in the sport. "I think it's readily available and used in boxing," she says. "I think we should have adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards years ago. Boxing continues to hide its head in the sand that there's a problem with anabolic steroids and drugs like growth hormone -- and also substances like clenbuterol that guys are using in combination with growth hormone and anabolic steroids to give them an unfair advantage."

Luis Llosa can be reached at luisfernando_llosa@simail.com