Whatchagonnado: I’m Sick and Tired of F’ing Fighters Cheating With PEDS!
By Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett
Red Pill, Blue Pill
Houston we have a problem. Things are getting out of hand. Way out of hand. In recent weeks several scheduled bouts have bitten the dust or been changed to no contest status as a result of boxers testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
What the hell is happening to the purest of all sporting contests? Since the time of Cicero a fair fight between two men stripped to the waist in a marked area used to be the measure of a man’s true fighting worth in a sporting and martial context. Indeed, it was the great man himself who said,
“Ability without honor is useless.”
But now it seems we’ve got cheaters in our midst who want try to gain any advantage and victory by artificial means. Three top ranked boxers, Russia’s Alexander Povetkin, Canada’s Lucian Bute, and New Zealand’s Lucas Browne have been caught recently after their blood and urine samples have tested positive for illegal substances. Alarm bells are now ringing loud and clear across the boxing landscape.
For all their excuses they may have well been caught with their pants down and a giant needle stuck in one butt cheek. In the absence of being able to prove innocence their reputations are forever tarnished. It’s another black eye for the sport and boxing is now stumbling around looking like a drunken panda after the recent Alvarez Vs Golovkin fiasco. It’s a double whammy that boxing didn’t need as it continues to try to attract more casual viewers as fans.
The fact is the athletic commissions, promoters, matchmakers, and boxers need to step up their game. Look what happened to cycling after the Lance Armstrong scandal. No one gives a rat’s ass about that sport anymore. Boxing might be headed the same way if the drug cheats are allowed to continue.
And it begs the question. How many other boxers in the sport are climbing through the ropes on fight night with PED’s coursing through their veins? Nobody knows! And that’s the scary thing. Testing is an expensive undertaking and boxing commissions, promoters, and undercard fighters don’t want to foot the bill for it. While the odd main event fighter will continue to be caught in the net of strict testing protocols and procedures there’s one thing we can be sure of. Somewhere on undercards across the globe more than a few boxers are abusing PED’s and getting away with it. Let’s not wait until one of these jacked up monsters causes a ring fatality before something is done about it. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.
And where will we be then? Gazing at our navels and soul searching like we always do after something goes horribly wrong only to return to business as usual after a few days? One would hope not. But this is boxing. The red light district of sports. And stranger things have taken place behind its closed doors.
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