However, as I’ve emphasized in my previous blogs, the implementation of a new regulation such as random blood testing is the sole responsibility of the boxing commissions. If a boxer is dissatisfied with a current regulation and wants a change, then he should bring his grievance before the boxing commission for consideration. No matter how good your intention is, imposing your own rule or regulation by cloaking it behind the definition of “contractual agreement” is not only wrong, but also unethical.
Recently, a couple of articles from Fanhouse regarding random blood testing have caught my attention. One in particular was ‘Dr Margaret Goodman’s Top 15 Ways to Improve Boxing’ penned by Fanhouse’s boxing editor Lem Satterfield. Although the article did contain some very good ideas from Dr. Goodman whom Mr. Satterfield described as “a former Nevada State Athletic Commission Medical Advisory Board Chairman and Chief Ringside Physician who has a private practice as a neurologist in Las Vegas, Nevada”, and who “worked more than 400 professional bouts as a ringside physician and is an advocate for blood testing in boxing as well as the MMA as a means of policing and improving those sports for the safety of its participants”, the article simply failed to elaborate on these ideas. Reading it was like reading a contents page of a magazine or an instruction pamphlet of a new appliance, to be civilly candid.
Based upon Mr. Satterfield’s detailed and generous description of Dr. Goodman, I have an impression that Dr. Goodman was a very knowledgeable and influential person in the commission. So it is a surprise to me now that random blood testing was not implemented during her tenure as the Nevada State Athletic Commission Medical Advisory Board Chairman. After all, the sport has officially had PED problems for a decade and a half now. So, why all of a sudden came up with these bright ideas now? Where were these before?
Perhaps I was expecting too much from a veteran writer, but if I had been in Mr. Satterfield’s shoes, I would certainly have asked Dr. Goodman some, if not all, of these questions to support her clever ideas.
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.
Questions: Would WADA and/or USADA hire third parties (private agencies and laboratories) to conduct random blood testing to thousands of active professional boxers around the globe? If third parties are involved, how would Dr. Goodman ensure the integrity of test results?
2. Complete WADA and USADA approved testing at the weigh-in and right after the fight -- both for blood and urine.
Question: If the weigh-in is set too close to the fight time (the day of the contest), could Dr. Goodman confidently guarantee that drawing blood from boxers (who are usually weak during weigh-in) will not in any way negatively affect (physically and mentally) their performance in the ring?
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.
Questions: Could Dr. Goodman confirm that regular disclosure of personal whereabouts and unannounced random blood testing are not in any shape or form a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution that protects the right of citizens (in case of foreign boxers, their rights under the laws of their countries)? Is Dr. Goodman aware of the fact that several sports bodies such as the ICC (International Cricket Council) have had major problems with this “whereabouts” clause?
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.
Question: If WADA would run the drug testing program, why not follow its World Anti-Doping Code testing program and prohibited substance list? These information are readily available on WADA’s website.
5. Required educational classes for athletes following the weigh-in to discuss prohibited substances and their harmful effects, especially performance enhancing drugs.
Questions: Why educational classes following the weigh-in? Why not some other time? How long would these “educational classes” be?
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.
Question: Considering that there are probably hundreds of non-championship fights being held in a month worldwide and random blood testing isn’t exactly cheap, who would pay for these costly tests?
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.
Question: Who would pay for the travel expenses of boxers, or the personnel that will conduct random blood testing to boxers, residing outside the United States and far from WADA-accredited testing laboratories?
8. Stop the ridiculous protocol of allowing fighters 48 hours to show up for a test once requested. How can that be considered unannounced?
Question: Apart from the truth that random testing introduces a presumption of guilt, and is a violation of privacy if the boxer is actually free from PEDs, conducting tests when boxers are in the middle of personal, social, religious, ethnic, and cultural activities is more ridiculous, is it not Dr. Goodman?
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.
Question: Can Dr. Goodman confirm that outside parties that will be invited in the institution of these changes will not in any way forward their own business interests?
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.
Questions: How would Dr. Goodman react to the belief of many experts that random blood testing might be completely ineffective considering that athletes and their pharmacists (and physicians) are two or three steps ahead of WADA’s “experts”? Are these PED tests really for the safety of the boxers or only for the improvement of the credibility of the boxing commissions? Is Dr. Goodman aware of the fact that FIFA “spent $30 million annually on 33,000 doping tests on soccer players” but “there are only about 10 positive results”? (Check out FIFA unannounced dope testing procedure.)
11. Each commission must talk to its legislature about ways to help funnel money from tax-generated income to institute and expand testing.
Question: I sought the opinion of a lawyer (who is also a boxing manager) on this issue and the response I got was “the American athletic commissions are really just political tools of a given state without much lobbying power to request expanded powers”. So, how could the commission effectively find ways to help funnel money from tax-generated income if the commission itself is pretty much powerless?
12. I would ask promoters to help pay for drug-testing from a minor portion of ticket sales.
Question: Asking promoters to help pay drug-testing simply means asking boxers to give up a portion of their purse because the additional premium that promoters would have to pay would surely be revisited upon the boxers on a given card. So how could Dr Goodman ensure that boxers’ purse wouldn’t go lighter if promoters help pay for drug-testing?
13. Sanctioning bodies should pay a significant portion of drug screens for championship fights.
Question: Same as the above.
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.
Question: What for? With so many on-going researches about “Chinese herbs, African medicines (plants and insects), etc.”, PED “science” is still in the infancy stage and will constantly change.
15. Commissions should work with amateur organizations to educate the fighters on PED's.
Question: Why? Are amateur organizations that incompetent to educate their fighters on PEDs?
Unless I get answers to these questions, I would only consider Dr. Goodman’s “Top 15 Ways to Improve Boxing” as a good advertisement for an international independent agency called WADA.
- Marshall N. B. marx7204@lycos.com
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Good read.
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