BALCO founder Victor Conte is sympathetic of ?Sugar? Shane Mosley?s denial of using steroids.
Conte realizes that, among other things, athletes have a life to protect.
? I understand that an athlete would try to protect their income, their family and their reputation,? Conte said. ?What I don?t understand is why they would abuse the judicial system by filing false lawsuits.?
Earlier this week, Mosley dropped a two-year, $12 million defamation lawsuit against Conte.
Mosley met Conte in the summer of 2003 in preparation for his light-middleweight title bout against Oscar De La Hoya later that year.
?When he came in, we talked about the program,? Conte said.
Soon after, Mosley was on the program, using EPO and steroids to build his power and stamina during training leading up to the fight.
?Specifically, I explained to Mr. Mosley and Mr. Hudson (Mosley?s trainer at the time) that ?The Clear? was an undetectable anabolic steroid and that ?The Cream? contained testosterone and epitestosterone,? Conte wrote in a sworn statement submitted in the defamation case. ?I explained that ?The Cream? was primarily to be used as a masking agent. I also explained that EPO increases the production of red blood cells, and therefore Mr. Mosley should take additional dietary supplements that aid in the manufacture of red blood cells, such as iron, vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, and vitamin B12. ? There is no question that I informed Mr. Mosley that he was taking the three banned performance enhancing drugs.?
Mosley has admitted unknowingly using the steroids publicly and in testimony to a grand jury in December 2003.
?We were misled (by Conte),? Mosley told the New York Daily News in September, 2007 . ?I guess I got the clear and the cream.?
The next month, Mosley, in a taped deposition for the case later released by Conte, admitted to knowingly using steroids:
Q. But the injection was EPO, right? A. It was EPO, yes. Q. And you knew it was EPO that day, correct? A. Yeah, I guess. I knew it was something, yeah.
Q. Okay. As you sit here today, did you ? let me just finish the question. As we sit here today, prior to going to the Grand Jury in December of 2003, did you know you were taking EPO, yes or no? A. Yes.
Q. And you knew you ? you took EPO that day on July 26, 2003, correct? A. Yes.
Conte called the Mosley suit ?Marion Jones Part 2″ in reference to the $25 million dollar defamation lawsuit filed against Conte by track star Marion Jones in 2004. Jones settled her lawsuit on confidential terms in a U.S. District Court in 2006. Conte compares the Jones suit not only to Mosley?s but to similar suits filed by Lance Armstrong and Roger Clemens.
?I think this goes beyond the athlete,? Conte said. ?I believe they are just getting bad legal advice.?
For his part, Conte believes that many boxers are still on steroids, an environment which Conte compares to the ?Wild, Wild West?, but is happy that the Mosley suit was dropped.
?I?m glad Shane made the decision he did,? Conte said. ?I would like to move on with my life and I would like Shane to move on with his.?
