A former Nevada State Athletic Commission Medical Advisory Board Chairman and Chief Ringside Physician, Dr. Margaret Goodman has a private practice as a neurologist in Las Vegas, Nev., but worked more than 400 professional bouts as a ringside physician.
FanHouse asked Dr. Goodman to come up with ways she thought the sport could police and improve itself, and this is what she came up with, below:
As a former ringside physician and Medical Advisory Board Chairman for the Nevada State Athletic, Commission, I was part of advancing medical testing of both MMA fighters and boxers that included MRI scans and testing for anabolic steroids.
Unfortunately, time and experience away from my former commission roles and the attention from the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather debacle has demonstrated the profound inadequacies of current testing.
It behooves each of us who cares for the credibility of these sports and our genuine interest in advancing safety, not delay in revamping our current drug-testing system.
I would like to take this opportunity to list some of the ways that drug testing can be expanded and changed:
1. The WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and/or the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) should run the drug testing program for boxing and MMA.
2. Complete WADA and USADA approved testing at the weigh-in and right after the fight -- both for blood and urine.
3. Once becoming a licensee, each fighter must always make his whereabouts known to the commission on a regular basis, and must agree to unannounced random testing.
4. Uniformity of testing protocols and prohibited substance lists across the United States that should be made available to every licensee, including fighters, trainers, managers, promoters and officials.
5. Required educational classes for athletes following the weigh-in to discuss prohibited substances and their harmful effects, especially performance enhancing drugs.
6. For all championship bouts, random unannounced blood and urine tests performed at least twice before a bout is held. Non-championship fighters should be randomly chosen.
7. Penalties -- like those implemented by the USADA and WADA -- for athletes who miss testing. These infractions must be posted on the Federal Suspension List which carries and denotes fighter suspensions from competition.
8. Stop the ridiculous protocol of allowing fighters 48 hours to show up for a test once requested. How can that be considered unannounced?
9. I would immediately set up a summit to be overseen by the commission which determines the best way to institute these changes. I would invite all knowledgeable parties, including Don Caitlin, USADA chief Travis Tygart, members of WADA, as well as BALCO founder, Victor Conte.
Mr. Conte is a wealth of knowledge on how athletes are escaping detection, and Caitlin is the director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab, which is among the world's largest testing facilities for performance-enhancing drugs..
10. Do not allow the Association of Boxing Commissions and individual commissions to hide behind the notion that PED testing is too costly to entertain. This would improve the credibility of their organization.
11. Each commission must talk to its legislature about ways to help funnel money from tax-generated income to institute and expand testing.
12. I would ask promoters to help pay for drug-testing from a minor portion of ticket sales.
13. Sanctioning bodies should pay a significant portion of drug screens for championship fights.
14. As had been done in some jurisdictions regarding proper training techniques, I would require all trainers to undergo a class on PED's and to pass a test to be licensed.
15. Commissions should work with amateur organizations to educate the fighters on PED's.
This list is only the beginning. Unfortunately, drug use in boxing and MMA has become commonplace. Yet, we are sitting back-- especially as fans.
But we must demand changes, because these endeavors are dangerous to the competitors.
Credibility can be restored, however, if boxing and MMA officials stop hiding under the guise of being niche sports and put the safety of their participants first by dealing directly with drug use.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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