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Back in January, my god that seems a long time ago now, I spoke about drugs in boxing as part of this series. Back then failed test results for Yves Ngabu and Alejandra Jimenez were the news, along with a story that really disappointed us. Top Rank had signed Jarrell Miller.
Whilst January feels like a long time ago that was it was only 6 months ago. That wasn't my first rant on drugs. Just a month earlier I had spoke about the "Clash on the Dunes" which featured 4 fighters who had tested positive for banned substances, with those being Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte, Mariusz Wach and Eric Molina. In the last week or saw we saw Jarrell Miller fail another drug test. Giving him another strike, and giving the sport of boxing one more black eye. Rather than holding his hands up, owning the situation, taking responsibility and acting like someone who has now been caught cheating on 3 totally separate occasions Miller has claimed innocence. He has stated he has never "willingly" taken banned substances... as if someone was making him take it I guess! For those curious Miller was first caught in 2014, using a banned stimulant for a bout in a GLORY Kick boxing show. That was something he was given a 9 month ban for, effective from August 1st 2014 by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC)*. The argument we've seen some have is that it's a different sport and shouldn't be held again, and we'll come back to that in a moment first we need to point something out. In the 9 months that followed August 1st 2014 Miller fought, as a boxer, fought 3 times, with the first of those coming in November 2014. Not only that but one of the bouts took place in California, in the state where he was supposedly fucking banned! Unless California's ban ONLY means he can't fight in kick boxing, which will be stupid as we're about to explain, then how was this actually allowed? Surely someone at the CSAC knew he was suspended and turned a blind eye, or their ban was so limited to only cover Kick boxing, making him free to go on his way with any other professional sporting endeavour. What should be noted is that Miller made his professional boxing debut in 2009, he was an active boxer in 2014. His positive test at the GLORY event was in June 2014. That was just a month after he beat Joshua Harris in a boxing event. He wasn't a one code athlete dabbling in another sport, or about to change sports, but was a dual sport competitor and had been for years. So whilst he did fail a test at a GLORY event, are we to assume that he was being tested at small level boxing events? Are we, especially knowing what we now know, to assume he was completely clean in boxing until 2019, when he just so happened to be given a strict drug testing regime and failed a test? Surely, in any workable system of a state athletic body issuing a suspension, that would be for all sport in their State? Especially given that it's the commission handing out the ban, not the sporting authority. For example it was CSAC not or organisation like the PDC in darts or FIFA in soccer. It's also worth noting that some countries actually have real liability on a test. In the UK one fighter tested positive for what was seen as a trace amount of cocaine and has been given a 4 year ban. The positive test for cocaine, which is said to have been on money handled by the fighter and was presumable a case of dermal absorption, has ended that fighters career. Yet Miller has failed in 2014 and 2019 and now again in 2020. Back in December I didn't call for bans or suspensions, or ineligibility rules on drug testing in boxing. We've seen they are pointless. Ryan Martin is banned for 4 years in the UK but fought just a few days ago in the US, less than half way into that suspension. I stand by that. Suspensions in boxing are totally unworkable due to the wild west nature of the sport. If a fighter tested positive and was banned by, say, UKAD, they could go off to Mexico or Thailand or the US and rack up their record for the duration of that ban, and work their way into big fights. They are totally toothless. We also don't see the point of the ranking bodies having any power in this area either. We've seen them turn a blind eye as and when they want, to their own rules. Heck the WBO essentially had to strip Billy Joe Saunders of their Middleweight title due to a drug test but then let him fight for a world title a weight class higher, just 2 fights later. The WBC essentially helped David Benavidez through his cocaine problem, and we know what UKAD would have done there! Instead, as we did in December, we call on promoters to freeze out fighters. Without the chance to get a fight fighters will think twice, they will realise the actions of the cheats isn't worth it. No more big paydays, no more big opportunities, no more letting them headline PPV's or feature on big cards. Originally we suggested that promoters should sign an agreement to note work with drug cheats. This time however we're going one step further and not only suggesting a code of conduct for promoters on using proven drug cheats, but also having their licenses stripped by the regional and national bodies for using them after they have tested positive. We know some fighters will cheat if they have a reason to, which is getting ahead and the potential of bigger pay days. We know that because it's happened. Repeatedly. So to stamp that out promoters need to agree to not work with them, and know that if they do they are out of the sport. We don't let establishments that break regulations, such as pubs staying open beyond their allowed hours, keep licenses, so we shouldn't let promoters who are irresponsible keep theirs either. For sake of clarity this rule would only apply to fighters who have previously tested. Testing on a show, with no previous black mark against a fighter, will not see a promoter stripped. Of course we know promoters lack scruples, and it can be in their interests to protect fighters. So if we share the onus between the fighters, the promoters and the commissions to chase drug cheats out of our sport we might, finally, get rid of the cheats. We also know, at the end of the day, no one in the sport really cares as long as they can make money off the fighter in question. Once again, boxing shows it's self shoot it's own foot. Complaining about an issue it enables. Maybe we, as fans, are the only ones who care, and even then we'll be paying for PPV's featuring fighters who have failed tests soon enough. *Note - We have reached out to clarify with CSAC on how ineligibility works and whether it is for one sport or multiple codes within their state and will update this article if they reply.
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This past week has been a frustrating one for those who want us to move towards a clean sport. In fact it's been a week where the idea of boxing ever being clean has been left on life support, with 2 fighters tests and a serial cheat being given a notable extra chance, in a career that really should have ended last year.
One of those failed tests was an out of competition test for Belgian Cruiserweight Yves Ngabu (20-1, 14). The fighter is fighting out of the Ingle Gym in the UK, which has had accusation thrown it's way in regards drugs in the past and two British fighters essentially called the gym out this week, after the failed test was made public. One of those was former Ngabu foe Lawrence Okolie who seemed to suggest the gym issue with a comment about "Ingle pringles", another was Tony Bellew, who has been inconsistent in his approach to failed drugs tests, and a third was Sunny Edwards. Whether there is, or isn't, an issue with the Ingle gym the fact Ngabu has been busted following the allegations and rumours about the gym is certainly not a good look and the sort of thing those in the gym should maybe be calling out themselves. Instead one fighter at the gym has essentially gone on the defensive. Maybe this is just me, but if I was in that particularly gym I'd look elsewhere if they don't look to kick Ngabu, and anyone else that fails a test, out. After all it's the failed tests that are causing question marks on the clean fighters fighters there. Rather than clean fighters lashing out at each other, they should all bee getting together, weeding out the cheats and turning on them. The second test fail to be made public this week was that of female fighter Alejandra Jimenez (13-0-1, 9). This was from a VADA test on January 10th, the day before Jimenez beat Franchon Crews Dezurn in a WBO and WBC female Super Middleweight title bout. Since the win Jimenez has been been accused of being a man, which is bullshit from fans, but this tests is a legitimate issue and something that will become an interesting story to follow. At the moment the substance hasn't been announced, though the WBC have stated their will be an "in-depth investigation of the circumstanced that led to adverse finding", take that as you will. Whilst drug test failures prove fighters are being tested the other story from the week proved that testing was essentially pointless. That story is the one regarding American Heavyweight Jarrell Miller (23-0-1, 20) who has just signed with Top Rank. Miller is best known for being a human cocktail last year, and being forced out of a fight with Anthony Joshua last year due to a variety of drugs being found in his system. This wasn't the first time Miller has been found to have banned substances in his system and it should have seen boxing treat him as persona non grata. Instead Top Rank have essentially offered Miller a chance to move into some huge fights down the line, such as bouts with Kubrat Pulev and Tyson Fury. Whilst Miller's return isn't yet scheduled his last fight was in November 2018 and it's likely he'll fight before summer. So for a repeat offender, who got a 9 month ban in 2014 for failing a drugs test when he was a kick boxer, Miller has seemingly been rewarded. For people wondering why fighters take drugs, Miller is the perfect answer. They know that if they can get the results in the ring and make a name for themselves, there will be a promoter willing to work with them afterwards, and give them another chance, and another chance, and another chance. Sadly this isn't actually a boding issue. It's a sporting issue, and as we recently saw from UKAD in regards to Mo Farah, who have been reluctant to release details regarding Farah's old tests, those in position to sort things out really don't care. They might talk the talk but in reality it's easier to just go with the flow. Sorry sport, but you need to clean up your fucking act before people realise that drug cheats are an accepted part of the sport, just like training and taking part. There is a view that everyone is on something, something that is repeated over and over. If that was true we suspect we'd see a lot more drug test fails, but the reality is that they might as well be on anything and everything if promoters are willing to get behind them and give them opportunities, if bans and suspensions are little more than an inconvenience and if fellow fighters are standing up for them. The sport is bending over backwards to allow cheats to not just compete, but thrive.  In Diriyah later today we'll see the latest Matchroom card, headlined by a Heavyweight title rematch between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua. The bout is one of the biggest of the year. It's on a bumper Sky Box Office PPV, it's on DAZN in the US WOWOW in Japan and various other broadcasters around the globe. It is one of boxing's biggest spectaculars of the year and likely to be the most profitable fight of the year, with a massive site fee to go with all the broadcasting rights.
Whilst the show has multiple issues with it, some of which have been gone over by better writers than I including the human rights issues with Saudi Arabia, and we have previously stated our case on the increase in pricing in the UK, the one that is perhaps the most irritating right now, and follows on from what I wrote in last weeks Hot Take, is the number of fighters on the show with failed drugs tests to their names. We're not going to go in depth on the various complications of drug testing or the ineffectiveness of the Clean Boxing Program and he VADA tests, both of which are better than nothing but neither is close to good enough for the sport, and both should only be seen as the bare minimum expected of fighters. My guess is that the future of drug testing will be 365 day a year round testing, not a random test here and there, but daily tests, measuring not just for the chemicals we know can be taken, but also for elevated levels and changes. This will be the gold standard in the future, and although still not impossible to beat, will really make it significantly tougher. Instead of blaming the testing agencies, which are not yet fully fit for purpose, and are in some cases quite toothless when it comes to the suspensions they can hand out, we are going to focus on promoters, and how the buck really does stop with them. Contrary to what some might think. At the end of the day the promoters, essentially, decide who gets to be on their shows, who fights, what they get paid and where the fights take place. If the promoters refuse to play ball with those who get caught with illicit substances in their system then the fighters will have to either self fund shows, or get out of the sport. Hearn himself seems to actually agree with the point I've made above, with their not being enough testing. He himself has pointed out that "The testing is too sporadic in the US. There is simply not enough of it carried out." The truth is that it's not the US that that's a problem in, but a global problem. The entire sport needs to see a massive increase in testing for world class fighters. Hearrn himself has stated also stated "Anthony (Joshua) insists on VADA testing for himself and his opponents from 14 weeks out from a fight and the cost comes out of the promotional budget." For a fighter fighting twice a year, as Joshua has this year, it means he and his opponent, in this case Andy Ruiz for both fights, spend just over half of the year in some form of testing program. Given we still don't really understand how good long term effects of drugs are, this simply isn't good enough. It's better than nothing, sure, but still isn't good enough. It's been suggested in research that benefit from testosterone can give benefits an athlete's entire career, and taking that outside of the 14 week window could give significant long term benefits. There's then the slippery slope with Testostrone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and the Therapuetic Ues Exceptions (TUE's). Staying with Hearn's own words in regards to the WBC, and their Clean Boxing Program, “I’ve got guys who have signed with me and signed up to WBC testing, they’ve never been tested". There appears to be no point to the WBC's CBP until they actually give you a regular series of random test when you move into their rankings. In our eyes the program simply isn't good enough, or fit for purpose. As we've seen in the past, they sometimes allow people to just fight anyway, or give them such insignificant punishments that they are meaningless. Luis Nery failed a test but was allowed to keep the title he won, so what was the point in the CBP there? So with WBC not testing enough and the drug testing bodies not yet catching up to the level of testing needed, we need someone to stand up for the sport. Why not have it be the man who said “Something is going to happen, someone is going to die, someone is going to get hurt for life, someone is going to get paralysed by a drugs cheat, what happens then? Is that murder?" At the end of the day a promoter putting 4 fighters, that's 40% of the fighters on the poster above, on a show who have failed a drugs test suggests that he's okay with drugs cheats in boxing. In fact it suggests he's happy to pay them, potentially rewarding them, for taking substances that are banned. With the card having Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte, Mariusz Wach and Eric Molina it seems very much like someone getting "hurt for life" is a price Mr Hearn is happy with. Of course it's boxing, this is one show among many that Mr Hearn will put on this year, and these are but a handful of his fighters. But lets not overlook that he has other fighters who have failed drug tests, with a variety of excuses, among his stable. Including Billy Joe Saunders, Hughie Fury, Kid Galahad. He has also signed for Joshua to fight Jarrell Miller, who had failed a drugs test. It seems that whilst drugs cheats are bad, they aren't that bad... I am, for the sake of this article, putting all fighters that fail drug tests under the same banner. The reality is that they aren't the same. What Miller did, by essentially being a human cocktail of drugs, is much worse than testing positive for a chemical in a nasal spray or on a skin cream. One is deliberately cheating the other, perhaps ignorantly breaking the rules, but at the end of the day the athlete needs to take responsibility for their body, what's in it and what they take. Going back to the long term benefits for something like testosterone, whilst not everything will give such stark long term improvements things that help prolong the amount of training, speeding up recovery time are also helping an athlete get an unfair advantage. The advantage of something in a cold medicine being able to aid training, is still giving an advantage to an athlete. Whilst the argument is that promoters aren't the police of boxing might be true, they are the ones with the power to truly punish fighters who fail tests. They are they ones who can blackball fighters, refuse to work with them, and make it clear the sport is going to a zero tolerance model. The problem is no promoter wants to take the risk of letting one of the fighters make money for someone else, so maybe a collective promotional code of conduct needs to be brought in, and signed up to by promoters, to alleviate the fear that is Hearn doesn't use Dillian Whyte, neither will Bob Arum, Lou DiBella, Oscar De La Hoya or Frank Warren. Rather than freezing a fighter out independently, you freeze them out as a collective, you finally all get on the same page on something and move forward with a clear vision of a drug free sport. If a fighter breaches the agreement it would allow the others to freeze them out of any joint promotional work. Looking back over the murder quote above, it does leave the question, if a known drugs cheat does kill someone in the ring will the promoter be an accomplice to murder? At the end of the day being a professional sports person is not a right, it's an honour. As sports fans we have become accustomed to people doing bad, then, eventually, being welcomed back to the sport. The reality however is that boxing, and MMA and other combat sports, aren't the same as cycling. This is a sport where advantages you have can have untold medical affects on other competitors. In cycling and tennis cheating is punished because you are cheating the sport. In combat sports it needs to be punished more severely as fighter is risking someone else's health. Note - For those suggesting day by day testing is unworkable for costs, it's worth noting that in 2018 the University of Waterloo sent out a press releases stating they were close to developing a test that would cost a fraction of current tests, work incredibly quickly, and work as a flagging system before a more in depth confirmatory test was done. This would allow day by day testing, and where a test is flag a full test would then be needed. This is certainly a workable model in boxing, and whilst it might still be some time away from hitting the market, so to speak, it seems the future is almost here. |
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