The witch hunt is in full swing. The champion is under attack, and clearing his name as a cheater will be a tough road to pave. This said, Lamont Peterson is no cheater. I spoke with his physician a few days ago and was informed that Lamont’s testosterone level was more than half less than a normal humans level.
The medical treatment given to Peterson goes much beyond boxing, it’s a matter of is health more than anything else. The doctor prescribed Peterson the testosterone pellets in order to increase the level in his system to that of a normal humans level. This is not cheating, this is making a person healthy again.
It was the Peterson camp that demanded the VADA testing in the first place. Why would they demand the testing and then knowingly cheat? This makes no sense, and it’s utterly ridiculous to throw the kid under the bus and accuse him of cheating.
It would be one thing if Peterson’s testosterone level exceeded that of other humans, but that’s not the case. Additionally, the pellets given to Peterson according to his physician were the “slow release” type, and not a quick release type. A slow release pellet gives absolutely no performing enhancement to an athlete.
Lamont has had a long road to the top. Once a homeless kid living in a bus station, he found boxing through his coach and father figure and mentor Barry Hunter. He’s been a class act for many years. If he’s guilty of anything, perhaps it’s for not speaking about his medical condition to the commission.
The fact that he did not mention his health condition to the commission can be looked at two ways. Those who want to throw him under the bus can say that he didn’t say anything because he is hiding something. Those who do not believe that he’s cheating can say that the reason he didn’t mention anything is because he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.
People will think what they want to think. People will take sides, and some will judge, and some will support. I choose to support Lamont Peterson on this one. In my opinion, he didn’t cheat.
