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HERE IS THE ACTUAL ANSWER:
There has been both knowledge based on fact, and some additional speculation about the Wild card gym and about many of the athletes there.
Actual fact is that many of the guys Roach worked with have been steroids users, and speculation is centered around the guys who have not been busted. The reality is that looooong before Mayweather, Sr. mentioned anything about Pacquiao and steroids, the topic was circulating in boxing circles. If you don't believe that, ask anyone who has been close to the sport (unbiased diehards). i.e., ask Iceman Scully, not Shawn Porter. In fact, if you do a search, you will find Pacquiao steroids threads on this very site long before FMS brought it to the forefront.
July 2008:
April 2009:
April 2009 from Asian Sensation:
It'd be easier to find a trainer who didn't at one time or another train or consort with a drug user at the time; Toney just happens to be one of the more well-known offenders in the sport.
Steroid abuse is rampant in the business, and for the most part it's swept under the rug or just not openly discussed. When it comes to performance enhancing drugs, nothing really shocks me in this sport. If boxing had "off-season" testing in place for it's ranked contenders/champions, the names that would come up would put the sport on it's side.
Here are some facts:
In 2007, Pacquiao was training with Justin Fortune, who is a known steroids user. In 2007, Pac went eight lackluster rounds with Solis, and then looked quite average against Barrera, and many had him losingthe Marquez rematch.
Starting in 2008, Pacquiao went on a remarkable run after he seemed to be on the downside. That is very much a Bonds-esque, Clemens-esque trend. A late-career run that eclipses anything you did earlier in your career.
People fail to recognize that the Mayweathers are deeply tied in to the sport. Some of these *******s-come-lately think that the Mayweather family is new to the sport. They forget that Senior trained Oscar when he fought roiders Shane and Vargas. Floyd was sparring with Pernell and Frankie Randall when he was 16/17 years old. Roger trained Vernon Forrest in the ams. These guys have been around the sport their whole lives. They know everybody. You don't think they hear rumours? Whether the rumours are true or not, you hear them. And it makes you skeptical/cautious.
And there's this:
Roach knows of two of his fighters who tested positive for PEDs
Posted Mar. 12, 2010 at 11:06am
By Michael Rosenthal
DALLAS – Freddie Roach, the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, said he has worked with two fighters who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs but takes precautions so it won’t creep into his gym in Hollywood, Calif.
Roach said one of his former fighters, Justin Fortune, was known to have used PEDs and James Toney twice tested positive for steroids, once when he was working with Roach.
“I won’t say I didn’t know,” said Roach, referring to Toney. “I never asked him, though. I never had a conversation. I could see his body structure had signs, his traps and stuff. He was either lifting a lot of weight or he was on (something).
“… I think I had one other fighter on steroids also, Justin Fortune. … I know he’d been there before.”
There has been both knowledge based on fact, and some additional speculation about the Wild card gym and about many of the athletes there.
Actual fact is that many of the guys Roach worked with have been steroids users, and speculation is centered around the guys who have not been busted. The reality is that looooong before Mayweather, Sr. mentioned anything about Pacquiao and steroids, the topic was circulating in boxing circles. If you don't believe that, ask anyone who has been close to the sport (unbiased diehards). i.e., ask Iceman Scully, not Shawn Porter. In fact, if you do a search, you will find Pacquiao steroids threads on this very site long before FMS brought it to the forefront.
July 2008:
April 2009:
April 2009 from Asian Sensation:
It'd be easier to find a trainer who didn't at one time or another train or consort with a drug user at the time; Toney just happens to be one of the more well-known offenders in the sport.
Steroid abuse is rampant in the business, and for the most part it's swept under the rug or just not openly discussed. When it comes to performance enhancing drugs, nothing really shocks me in this sport. If boxing had "off-season" testing in place for it's ranked contenders/champions, the names that would come up would put the sport on it's side.
Here are some facts:
In 2007, Pacquiao was training with Justin Fortune, who is a known steroids user. In 2007, Pac went eight lackluster rounds with Solis, and then looked quite average against Barrera, and many had him losingthe Marquez rematch.
Starting in 2008, Pacquiao went on a remarkable run after he seemed to be on the downside. That is very much a Bonds-esque, Clemens-esque trend. A late-career run that eclipses anything you did earlier in your career.
People fail to recognize that the Mayweathers are deeply tied in to the sport. Some of these *******s-come-lately think that the Mayweather family is new to the sport. They forget that Senior trained Oscar when he fought roiders Shane and Vargas. Floyd was sparring with Pernell and Frankie Randall when he was 16/17 years old. Roger trained Vernon Forrest in the ams. These guys have been around the sport their whole lives. They know everybody. You don't think they hear rumours? Whether the rumours are true or not, you hear them. And it makes you skeptical/cautious.
And there's this:
Roach knows of two of his fighters who tested positive for PEDs
Posted Mar. 12, 2010 at 11:06am
By Michael Rosenthal
DALLAS – Freddie Roach, the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, said he has worked with two fighters who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs but takes precautions so it won’t creep into his gym in Hollywood, Calif.
Roach said one of his former fighters, Justin Fortune, was known to have used PEDs and James Toney twice tested positive for steroids, once when he was working with Roach.
“I won’t say I didn’t know,” said Roach, referring to Toney. “I never asked him, though. I never had a conversation. I could see his body structure had signs, his traps and stuff. He was either lifting a lot of weight or he was on (something).
“… I think I had one other fighter on steroids also, Justin Fortune. … I know he’d been there before.”
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