PEDS in Boxing – The news hit the boxing world like a bombshell. Australia’s Lucas Browne has tested positive for a PED in the aftermath of his March 5th win over Ruslan Chagaev.
Browne had become a part of boxing history by becoming the first Australian to have a piece of a World Heavyweight title, in this case the WBA version. He entered the fight with a 23-0 record and he had a heavy handed reputation that had yielded 20 KOs. In Chagaev, he was definitely facing his toughest opponent and much was made before the fight about the location, which was Grozny, Russia.
Before the fight, there was a lot of talk about Browne being in no-man’s land in terms of fight location. Not ten years ago, Grozny was a warzone with fierce fighting involving the Russian army. Since then, the center of town has been rebuilt in lavish, Russian style but Chechnya still is not winning any awards as a traveler destination.
For his part, Browne is lawyering up, and he has the backing of his British promoter Ricky Hatton as well. He has claimed no knowledge and denied all drug use, but then again, everyone who blows a hot test denies it.
Could he possibly claim that he was given tainted food in Grozny? Or is he going to go so far as to claim some type of issue at the laboratory? The bottom line is that Browne is probably going to get stripped and the WBA belt will likely be back in Chagaev’s hands.
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Yet to be felt are the potential far reaching effects of Browne’s situation. WBC World Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has been negotiating to fight Alexander Povetkin in Russia. A purse bid held and the right to promote the fight was won by a Russian promoter, decideing the location. But, though there has been a great deal of talk about the fight and both parties appear to be working together, this situation with Browne should make the Wilder camp pause. Wilder had expressed reluctance to fight in Russia prior to the purse bid, preferring to try and lure Povetkin to the United States. The WBC’s purse bid means Wilder stands to make more than $4 million dollars in Russia, but now the Browne situation might mean a re-think.
Overall, this is another black mark for the sport of boxing, no matter which way things are decided.
PEDS in Boxing
The bottom line is that the Heavyweight division is experiencing a potential new age, with a lot of fighters near the top jockeying for position. It would be a big shame to see a scandal involving PEDs put a black eye on the sport, but that is a very real possibility. In the United States, 46 year old Heavyweight Antonio Tarver tested positive for the second time. He is trying to mount a defense and is denying the test results. In Europe, 150-0 contender Erkan Tepper appears to have gone down hard due to involvement with steroids, and he started serving a two year suspension back in November.
Take a listen to our latest Talk ‘n’ Shoot Podcast where we get into the subject of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Boxing.
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