Mr. Freeman went to great lengths to make sure he understood Hall, since the interview was conducted over the phone and Richard has held on to his rhythmic Jamaican accent, which can be hard to follow some times. Mr. Freeman was shocked at the allegations; he even asked Hall if he too had tested positive for steroids, whether the boxing organization sanctioning the fight had been told, or the Commission, somebody, anybody?!?!?!

     May I add that on the evening of the interview, I received a late phone call from Aladdin. He expressed his concerns regarding Hall's allegations and the implications thereof. He also told me that he had called Hall a second time just to make sure that everything that had been said was on the record and verifiable.

     His phone call reminded me of the uneasiness I experienced after having posted a Q&A session some months ago. I remembered the advice I was given, which helped me a lot, and I was quick to relay it to Aladdin. I told him to sleep on it, and whenever he got up, to go with what his heart and conscience told him was the right thing to do. I added, "if you do that, you'll have no regrets... and whatever your decision is, you have my unwavering support."

     Morning came and I found a rather succinct email in my mailbox from Aladdin; it simply said, "we must speak to Roy." Agreed, so in an effort to give RJJ a voice, we called his Miami based advisor, Brad Jacobs, who did give me a statement in which -among other things- he stated that the Indiana State Commission had exonerated Jones, Jr.

     All systems were now go, and the interview hit the web later on that day. It found its way to other boxing web sites such as Charles J's TotalAction.com and ICheehuaha's Doghouseboxing.com, and the number of visitors to our sites went through the roof.

     In a contrived attempt at not missing the bus, another website who shall remain nameless posted an interview with Jones' trainer, Al Merkerson. In the interview, Coach Merk denies knowing anything about the positive tests.

Upon being told by the interviewer that "rumors" had surfaced that Jones tested positive for steroids use "prior" to the Hall defense in May 2001, Merkie was quoted as having responded as follows: "That was just rumors of people who were stating he was on steroids. Roy would be crazy, with the status he has in the community and the world as a great boxer, to even attempt to do something like that. ...The way it got back to my gym...a lot of my guys, my boxers were telling me it was all over the internet that Roy was on steroids for that fight, and for the fight with Ruiz. It's totally a lie, and whoever keeps putting those rumors out should --- they should get their facts straight --- serious things can happen in court to people for putting out false accusations."

     A seemingly very talkative Merkie went on... "I don't know exactly what happened, but both of them (meaning Hall and Jones, Jr.) came back positive, like you said, (referring to the interviewer)...I didn't even know that. If Roy comes up positive for anything it's because he is taking something for his sinuses --- he has a very bad sinus problem --- but I cannot even get him to take anything..." Hmmm....

     Enter BoxingInsider.com's Scoop Malinowski, and his interview with Jacob Hall, the Commissioner of Indiana Boxing. Boy, am I glad someone went to the source... Oh, and by the way, that other website, their interviewer keeps referring to the Jones-Hall steroids tests as having been pre-fight tests, when in reality, they were post fight tests... You would think that in their quest they would have gotten this pivotal point right, but to no avail.

     Well, this is the link to Malinowski's interview , feel free to check it out for yourselves. But let's just go on record right now as saying that the Commissioner of Indiana Boxing's opening salvo reads like this: "Both of them did. (referring to Jones and Hall)... Roy Jones tested positive for steroids. He was five or six times over an acceptable level. Hall was about ten times above an acceptable level. He didn't mention that in his interview (the now infamous interview of July 18 with Bragging Rights Corner and Doghouse Boxing)..."

     The Commissioner added, "Through his attorney, Jones admitted he had been taking an over-the-counter product called Ripped Fuel. That's not illegal but it is an anabolic steroid according to the IBF and other sanctioning bodies... he did test positive and admitted to taking a steroid... The IBF chose to do nothing. They wanted a second test to be done. But why take a second test when he failed the first one and admitted to taking a steroid? That's where it ended... We couldn't take action (because there is no drug testing law in the state of Indiana).

     Back to me, and you, the readers. In case you are wondering what is the point, the point is this. Bragging Rights Corner doesn't post rumors, gossip or innuendos. We at the Corner have no agenda against Roy Jones, Jr., or Richard Hall or any other fighter. We love boxing way too much for that and it has never been our position to hurt the sport. However, we are not going to edit legitimate statements given to us in an attempt to avoid controversy.

    The truth has a way of skimming to the top, and that has proven to be the case here. Perhaps an apology is in order from those who accused us of posting rumors. Someone needs to send Malinowski's interview to Coach Merkerson, who was quoted as issuing a veiled threat to those who post rumors on their websites. I wonder how one can justify that Merkie, who has been with Roy for an eternity, would be so far removed from such a serious problem as the one involving his own fighter and Richard Hall in May of 2001. How was Merkie so easily taken from "I don't know anything about that" to the sinus medicine scenario? How about we stick to the facts? Better yet, stick to the story Roy himself has made public, which blames the positive testing on the over the counter energy drink called Ripped Fuel.     

     I don't know how anyone else reads it, but it seems to me that the more this story gets stirred around by the Jones camp, like the proverbial you know what, the more it stinks.