Although the world of sports is under heavy scrutiny regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs, there’s one man in boxing who refuses to lend credence to the idea that an athlete’s performance can only be explained by accusing them of cheating. “When you say someone is on PEDs, it makes them like Superman. It’s almost giving them too much credit, especially if it comes out that they are clean,” Richardson commented as he spoke about Jean Pascal’s demand for Bernard Hopkins to take a blood test while the two were at a press conference to promote their May 21st rematch. According to Richardson, the unfounded allegations are simply a case of Pascal looking for an excuse out of embarrassment from his performance in their first encounter.
“You know, for the last couple of months, he’s had to walk around Canada and hear people tell him how an old man beat him up. So now, he’s forced to dig for gold and try to create a reason why this old man whooped his ass. The popular thing to say right now is someone is on performance-enhancing drugs. When you live the lifestyle that Bernard lives, you don’t have to use none of that. X is already in his head is all that shows me,” Richardson explained. In fact, Richardson is of the opinion that the accusations say a lot more about their achievements than anything else, pointing out that Pacquiao has performed so well that many who find it hard to believe are simpling looking for answers to explain what they cannot comprehend. “This little joker is wrecking guys so easy that people think he is on something. That’s a major statement. You will never hear that come out of my mouth. At the end of the day, like I said, that makes him look larger than life and like a superhero to assume he is on something because of the way he’s beating guys,” he continued. It’s a notion that’s not lost on Richardson, who found himself emersed in the subject of performance-enhancing drugs shortly after he began working with his other star pupil, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, who is set to do battle on May 7th with the Filipino boxing icon.
For quite some time now, fans have been hoping to see the top two fighters in the sport face off, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. has refused to make the fight unless Pacquiao agrees to random blood testing leading all the way up until the fight to ensure that both fighters are “on an even playing field.” Thus far, the two sides have yet to come to an agreement, giving Mosley a chance of a lifetime to shock the world and ruin what would be the biggest fight in the sport. Mosley himself stepped into the ring with Mayweather last May after happily agreeing to undergo USADA blood testing to prove to the world that he was a clean fighter despite having admitted in the past to using BALCO products. Although Mosley lost the fight via wide unanimous decision, he hopes to prove the naysayers wrong when it comes time to step into the ring with another man who’s name has been connected to the stigma of performance-enhancing drugs.
