|
|
Team Ruiz is pleased that
the World Boxing Association has entered an order (dated May 16
2005) stripping James Toney and reinstating John Ruiz as the WBA
heavyweight champion, based on Toney's violation of New York
State Athletic Commission's illegal substance policy. However, Team Ruiz believes the sanction
banning Toney from competing for the WBA heavyweight title for
two years isn't strict enough. The NYSAC meted out what, under
its current guidelines, is the maximum punishment for a first
offense: three-months suspension and $10,000 fine. Toney and his
team have since scoffed at the WBA title, making the remarkable
claim that he beat John "fair and square," despite testing
positive for using an illegal performance-enhancing substance. Experts have told us that nandrolone, the
steroid Toney tested positive for, is the "Cadillac" of anabolic
androgenic steroids. It is one of the most powerful
performance-enhancing substances, providing the best results and
least side effects. They've also told is that Toney's illegal
drug guru must have screwed up because nandrolone, due to its
chemical structure, is more easily detected than many other
steroids. Toney is either and idiot or he simply decided to take
a risk and not worry about the consequences. It's probably both,
based on his "I didn't do anything wrong" excuse regarding an
alleged mixture of orally ingested prescription medicines
magically turning into an anabolic androgenic steroid, nandrolone.
Nonsense! This is a matter of medical science, not alchemy. Any true expert in the field of sports
anti-doping explain that the use of nandrolone dramatically
boosted Toney's ability to train and compete, artificially adding
to his strength, speed and power. More importantly, though, it
super-charged his ability to recover from strenuous effort.
Unlike in baseball or track-and-field, the use of this illegal
substance, given the nature of competition and risks in
championship level boxing, isn't much worse than cheating. It's
criminal. Team Ruiz has embarked on a mission to
change drug-testing protocol in championship boxing. Rather than
test immediately before and after the contest (geared only to
determine if stimulants were used), testing for the use of
anabolic androgenic steroids and other banned performance
enhancing substances should be done randomly, anytime between the
announcement of a fight right up until the day of the event. We
believe that this method is the only way to prevent the use of
illegal substances. Now that the Toneys of the world know that
nandrolone cannot be used because it can't be purged in
sufficient time (especially in the case of Ruiz-Toney where
training was shortened to five weeks), they will simply use one
of the many other anabolic steroids that can be masked or
eliminated right before the fight. In boxing, where an artificial
and illegal imbalance of fair competition may mean not only the
difference in several millions of dollars in future purses, but,
more significantly, in a competitor's life or death, the system
must be changed now.
6-1-2005
