You?re an advocate for Manny Pacquaio.
Your name might be Bob Arum, Freddie Roach or Jeng Gacal.
You?ve signed up for a Nov. 17 bout in Las Vegas against admitted steroid user Sugar Shane Mosley.
You know Mosley?s tepid defense is that he thought Victor Conte gave him fancy vitamins when he and conditioning coach Darl Hudson flew in the summer of 2003 to the BALCO headquarters in the Bay Area.
Mosley portrays himself (even under oath) as an unwitting steroid user.
You believe that the same way you believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the sneaky Tooth Fairy who leaves anonymously leaves money under children?s pillows.
But now Mosely-Pacquaio is moving foreward. How do you maximize the protection of Pacman from the possibility of drug cheating by his opponent?
Well, here?s my two cents and you can put it under your comfy pillow if you so desire.
In the bout contract, you specify that BOTH fighters undergo both random and scheduled drug testing before and after the fight. When it comes to fight night, the WBA would insist on a post bout test for both if their 147-pound title, now held by Mosley, is at stake.
It?s only fair for both Manny and Shane to undergo such tests and Nevada instituted random testing in April of 2008 anyway.
You want to see, as the referee says in the dressing room ?a good, clean fight,? then this is the only way.
Such contractual specifications are becoming more common in high level bouts. In Europe, such testing is generally handled by WADA agents, the acronym standing for the World Anti Doping Agency.
In related news, Mosley attorney Judd Burstein sent out a press release Wednesday describing BALCO boss Conte as being on the ropes in a New York defamation suit filed by the fighter.
Supreme Court Judge Louis York didn?t exactly paralyze Conte?s chances in the legal dispute. He merely refused unsurprisingly to dismiss the matter at the request of Conte lawyer Tom Harvey.
The judge greenlighted discovery procedure meaning both sides will now conduct depositions of both sides. The judge said he was unsure if his court properly has jurisdiction in the controversy and would answer that question later.
(Once again, excellent reportage on this by the New York Daily News team of Teri Thompson and Nathaniel Vinton in today?s paper.)
The judge did question why neither Mosley or Hudson took their ?vitamin sacks? on board the plane with them when flying back to Los Angeles from BALCO.
?Why couldn?t he just get vitamins at his local pharmacy?? York asked Mosley lawyer Peter Schalk. ?Why couldn?t they take them on the plane??
Schalk?s answer was the package was too bulky and they were on a small airplane.
I?m no pharmacology expert but I surmise then these were not One A Day ?vitamins.?
The ref?s admonition ?protect yourself at all times? will include ?special vitamins? if and when Pacman fights Mosley.
Finally, Harvey pointed out that the depositions will take place per the judge in California where Mosley, Hudson and Conte all reside.
?Judd,? Harvey said, ?who wasn?t even there, must be watching a different movie.?
No, this fight is not in the final rounds, not yet.
