The upcoming bout between Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley has two main themes the media is picking up on. The first, obviously, is that it is a historic bout between two all time great fighters. The second is that the bout will be the first in the sports history to have Olympic style drug testing.
The interest in enhancement drugs comes directly from the Mayweather camp who began accusing Manny Pacquiao of taking PED (performance enhancing drugs) in the build up to what would have been the biggest fight in history. The demand that Pacquiao be subjected to Olympic style testing ultimately destroyed the fight leaving Mayweather free to face Shane Mosley. So eager was the Californian to fight that he agreed to all of Mayweather?s demands telling anyone who would listen that they could stick needles in his arms all the way into the ring. Mayweather made a stipulation that Mosley agree to the testing and the fight was made quickly and painlessly.
Despite the rigorous testing, the issue is still alive and kicking, again at the behest of the Mayweather camp who relentlessly needle Shane for his own brush with PEDs back in 2003. While it is easy to paint Mayweather as the bad guy in all of this, Mosley bears responsibility for his actions which were by all reasonable estimations, highly questionable.
When Mosley was preparing for his rematch with Oscar DeLaHoya, he sought the advice of Victor Conte, director at the BALCO labs in Northern California. Conte had worked with the likes of Marion Jones and Barry Bonds and was known in the industry as the go-to-guy for untraceable PEDs.
Conte had Mosley inject himself with doping agent erythropoietin (EPO) and apply designer steroids ?the clear? and ?the cream? on a regular basis providing him with a calendar to ostensibly avoid detection during testing for the bout.
Mosley has denied knowing that he took banned substances and has sued Conte for libel claiming he believed he was taking legal supplements that were not banned.
Conte and Mosley?s former trainer Daryl Hudson (who suggested Mosley meet up with Conte) have both asserted that Mosley knew exactly what he was taking.
A video also recently surfaced of an extremely nervous Mosley admitting to taking what he knew were EPO and steroid creams during a deposition with Conte?s lawyer. In the video Mosley first states that it was the Grand Jury that told him he took EPO, then changes his story to assert that he knew he was taking EPO before the Grand Jury told him he was.
It isn?t entirely clear what this means ? Mosley looks confused in the video and was probably trying not to trip himself up (although he actually made it look worse) and it doesn?t change the fact that he didn?t know it was illegal. Perhaps most importantly, EPO was not a banned substance in the state of Nevada in 2003 so at the time, Mosley wasn?t technically doing anything wrong.
However, the notion that an athlete of Mosley?s caliber didn?t know what he was taking seems a little far fetched. EPO is injected mostly through the stomach and I don?t know anyone, let alone finely tuned professional athletes who would take something they didn?t really understand in such an invasive way. Mosley has stated that he was aware of the risks of EPO (blood thickening specifically), but at no time thought it would have any legal ramifications (Marion Jones for example was stripped of her Olympic medals for her use of the drug). His testimony is based largely on his own ignorance, and that does not bode well for him or the sport.
I am not personally one for lifetime bans on athletes that use PEDs. Firstly, all professional athletes have likely taken a substance that has, or will be banned at some point by various athletic boards. Defining what a PED actually is isn?t as straightforward as it might seem because pharmaceutical companies are constantly creating new ?drugs? or ?supplements? that cannot easily be categorized.
Secondly, I believe athletes deserve a second chance if they confess and go clean. Mosley hasn?t exactly come clean, but he has accepted that he took PEDs and has made a concerted effort to remain drug free thereafter. His acceptance of Olympic style drug testing is an enormously positive step for himself and the sport and he should be commended for it. If he beats Floyd Mayweather, no one will be able to second guess his victory, particularly Mayweather.
Athletes are widely viewed as role models and ambassadors for their respective sports and should they slip up like Mosley did, there should be some ramifications for their actions. Mosley, despite having his name dragged through the dirt, was never punished for his dalliance with performance enhancing drugs. It is not entirely clear how he should be punished given his technical innocence, but perhaps he could suggest reversing the decision he got over DeLaHoya making the bout a no-contest. DeLaHoya had apparently toyed with the idea of pushing for a reversal, but eventually backed down given his close friendship with Mosley.
The fight this weekend is not about steroid abuse and Mayweather is clearly using the subject to unsettle Mosley. But while Mayweather is a loud mouth and a trash talker, he isn?t saying anything untrue. And as much as the public likes him and hates Mayweather, there must be an acknowledgment of this. I have met Shane Mosley on a number of occasions and found him to be polite, friendly and accommodating. Mayweather, unsurprisingly, was the exact opposite.
Yet on this topic he is in the right, and Mosley the wrong.
