PED testing in boxing pops in and out of the news, mostly on the basis of whether or not a big name boxer has gotten red flagged for having the presence of a banned substance in their system.
PEDs in fight sports came on radar last week, when one of the headliners in tonights’ PBC on FOX event, Willie Monroe Jr, got bumped from his fight with Jermall Charlo for testing positive for excess testosterone in his system.
Matt Korobov got the call to sub in, for this meaningful middleweight scrap, against the WBC interim 160 champ.
So, it bears asking, which entity caught the misstep? Nope, not VADA, which has drawn props for being the testing body which 2 which give fighters an illegal edge. A source who didn’t want to be named said no, VADA didn’t do testing for the card running Dec. 22 at Barclays Center. So was USADA screening specimens? I was directed to ask the NY commission what testing was done for the fight card, promoted by Tom Brown and overseen by Premier Boxing Champions.
DOS NYSAC spokesman Lee Park responded thusly to a request for info: “Can’t provide specifics but I can confirm that NYSAC ordered each athlete to undergo random out of competition testing prior to this match. The results of such testing were received and both brothers were cleared to fight.”
By “both brothers,” Park is referring to Jermall and Jermell, who fights at 154, and meets Tony Harrison in the co-feature fight.
The twins drew attention when they missed a recent scheduled visit from a VADA test team, as part of the WBC Clean Boxing Program. The CBP, instituted by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, featured random testing as part of its protocol and all fighters entered are directed to let VADA personnel know their wehereabouts, so they can be tested on short notice. The Charlos said they were travelling, doing work promoting the Dec. 22 card, and were not deliberately dodging PED testing. Both took aim at Monroe this week, and slammed the Rochester, NY boxer for being red flagged.
