Larry O on PEDs in boxing
Posted: 25 Apr 2020, 19:19
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/ ... e-a-living
Interesting perspective and well worth a read.
Interesting perspective and well worth a read.
Trouble is they give you extra strength, stamina and make you recover quicker, it doesn’t make your brain stronger so you will just risk more serious injuries and deaths if it were a free for allgilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 03:27 Any perspective other than "F*ck it, let 'em take PED's" and I'm not onboard.
If everyone was on 'em, it would cease to be a disadvantage.
Testing for 'em is obviously questionable at best because they only seem to catch 10% of the suspected users. Either because they found a way to pass the test with masking agents or they found the right palm to grease.
Just let 'em all take PED's and let's wash our hands of the whole business. Fights wouldn't get cancelled, and nobody would have an advantage over anyone else.
He failed one. He told the other to f uck off. He failed for coke. UKAD have admitted he never knowingly took nandrolone.margaret thatcher wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 03:25 He was juicing up on nandrolone bruh, failed multiple tests, Hughie got caught too
Erm, not quite. UKAD didn't admit anything. What actually happened is that they accepted Fury's account by way of settlement after it got legally very expensive for then when Fury started throwing money at it having decided he wanted to return to the ring. Let's not forget Fury received a 2 year ban out of it all. The fact he had elevated levels of nandrolone was upheld. Good old uncastrated wild boar...mickey1975 wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 05:13He failed one. He told the other to f uck off. He failed for coke. UKAD have admitted he never knowingly took nandrolone.margaret thatcher wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 03:25 He was juicing up on nandrolone bruh, failed multiple tests, Hughie got caught too
Considering that a great deal of the PED users already get away with it anyway, I don't really expect any death or serious injury rates would go up that much to be honest.Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 05:08Trouble is they give you extra strength, stamina and make you recover quicker, it doesn’t make your brain stronger so you will just risk more serious injuries and deaths if it were a free for allgilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 03:27 Any perspective other than "F*ck it, let 'em take PED's" and I'm not onboard.
If everyone was on 'em, it would cease to be a disadvantage.
Testing for 'em is obviously questionable at best because they only seem to catch 10% of the suspected users. Either because they found a way to pass the test with masking agents or they found the right palm to grease.
Just let 'em all take PED's and let's wash our hands of the whole business. Fights wouldn't get cancelled, and nobody would have an advantage over anyone else.
Except if a fighter doesn't want to take it they are at more risk. So they either have to join in or risk fighting someone knowingly juiced up. If its legal then guys will just take more stuff and become more powerful, it would spiral out of control. Then what kind of message does that send out to kids watching the sport, just take drugs. Not a good road to go down.gilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 12:39Considering that a great deal of the PED users already get away with it anyway, I don't really expect any death or serious injury rates would go up that much to be honest.Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 05:08
Trouble is they give you extra strength, stamina and make you recover quicker, it doesn’t make your brain stronger so you will just risk more serious injuries and deaths if it were a free for all
Never gonna happen. Somebody can always be bribed to look the other way.Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 12:56Except if a fighter doesn't want to take it they are at more risk. So they either have to join in or risk fighting someone knowingly juiced up. If its legal then guys will just take more stuff and become more powerful, it would spiral out of control. Then what kind of message does that send out to kids watching the sport, just take drugs. Not a good road to go down.
I kind of get your theory but ultimately it will cause more injuries. Fighters will being able to take more punishment and deal out more punishment, that is just making head injuries more likely. They need to try and stamp it out completely.
You can say that about any sport though. The answer isn't to give in and let people cheat, you have to make the testing better and ban people for life when caught.gilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:07Never gonna happen. Somebody can always be bribed to look the other way.Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 12:56
Except if a fighter doesn't want to take it they are at more risk. So they either have to join in or risk fighting someone knowingly juiced up. If its legal then guys will just take more stuff and become more powerful, it would spiral out of control. Then what kind of message does that send out to kids watching the sport, just take drugs. Not a good road to go down.
I kind of get your theory but ultimately it will cause more injuries. Fighters will being able to take more punishment and deal out more punishment, that is just making head injuries more likely. They need to try and stamp it out completely.
But they don't do they? They won't will they?Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:09You can say that about any sport though. The answer isn't to give in and let people cheat, you have to make the testing better and ban people for life when caught.
Even if the world was suddenly somehow run by completely honest people, boxing never will begilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:13But they don't do they? They won't will they?Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:09
You can say that about any sport though. The answer isn't to give in and let people cheat, you have to make the testing better and ban people for life when caught.
I personally would rather see the athletes all natural as well because that way you're truly seeing what the human body is capable of.
I've just accepted that this ship has sailed. Even if you start trying to ban guys for life, they'll still do it because they'll just get better masking agents, and ways around the test.
Also I'm sure you notice that the rules aren't applied the same across the board. One guy may test positive for PED's and get suspended for a year or two. While Canelo tests positive for Clenbuterol and gets a 3 or 4 month slap on the wrist.
Grease the right palm or buy the right masking agent, and you're golden.
Unless you think the world is suddenly gonna start being run by completely honest people who can't be bribed...and if you believe that. I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
ExactlyBoxerbeetle wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:19Even if the world was suddenly somehow run by completely honest people, boxing never will begilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:13
But they don't do they? They won't will they?
I personally would rather see the athletes all natural as well because that way you're truly seeing what the human body is capable of.
I've just accepted that this ship has sailed. Even if you start trying to ban guys for life, they'll still do it because they'll just get better masking agents, and ways around the test.
Also I'm sure you notice that the rules aren't applied the same across the board. One guy may test positive for PED's and get suspended for a year or two. While Canelo tests positive for Clenbuterol and gets a 3 or 4 month slap on the wrist.
Grease the right palm or buy the right masking agent, and you're golden.
Unless you think the world is suddenly gonna start being run by completely honest people who can't be bribed...and if you believe that. I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.![]()
Cheating has always been rife in sports though. The mob fixed loads of fights, bent judges, bent refs, fighters betting on themselves to fall over, hometown decisions etc..etc.. You can't control lots of it. They need to invest in more testing and make it stricter, will it happen, who knows. I don't think rolling over and accepting it is the answer. Who wants a young kid start boxing where the road to the top is what drugs they can take.gilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:13But they don't do they? They won't will they?Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:09
You can say that about any sport though. The answer isn't to give in and let people cheat, you have to make the testing better and ban people for life when caught.
I personally would rather see the athletes all natural as well because that way you're truly seeing what the human body is capable of.
I've just accepted that this ship has sailed. Even if you start trying to ban guys for life, they'll still do it because they'll just get better masking agents, and ways around the test.
Also I'm sure you notice that the rules aren't applied the same across the board. One guy may test positive for PED's and get suspended for a year or two. While Canelo tests positive for Clenbuterol and gets a 3 or 4 month slap on the wrist.
Grease the right palm or buy the right masking agent, and you're golden.
Unless you think the world is suddenly gonna start being run by completely honest people who can't be bribed...and if you believe that. I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
The heart of succeeding in sports is still and always will be learning and perfecting your craft. PED's aren't just gonna magically make you a good fighter. They just help you maintain your athleticism when your prime would probably be slipping away from you without assistance.Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:24Cheating has always been rife in sports though. The mob fixed loads of fights, bent judges, bent refs, fighters betting on themselves to fall over, hometown decisions etc..etc.. You can't control lots of it. They need to invest in more testing and make it stricter, will it happen, who knows. I don't think rolling over and accepting it is the answer. Who wants a young kid start boxing where the road to the top is what drugs they can take.gilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:13
But they don't do they? They won't will they?
I personally would rather see the athletes all natural as well because that way you're truly seeing what the human body is capable of.
I've just accepted that this ship has sailed. Even if you start trying to ban guys for life, they'll still do it because they'll just get better masking agents, and ways around the test.
Also I'm sure you notice that the rules aren't applied the same across the board. One guy may test positive for PED's and get suspended for a year or two. While Canelo tests positive for Clenbuterol and gets a 3 or 4 month slap on the wrist.
Grease the right palm or buy the right masking agent, and you're golden.
Unless you think the world is suddenly gonna start being run by completely honest people who can't be bribed...and if you believe that. I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
Even if cheating was legal there would still be tiers where the top golden boy of boxing has some pharmaceutical company designing the best PEDS for them for the right price, then they will still have an advantage. I just think legalising it will open up a can of worms and ultimately boxing becomes a game of who can get hold of the best drugs.
Nobody cares honestly.Boxerbeetle wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:29 Just think...instead of arguing about Fury/Joshua or Frank W/Eddie or BT/Sky, we could be debating who is the best P4P chemist in boxing. I’m on Team Heisenberg![]()
No of course PEDS don't give you skills you don't have but they do make you physically stronger and recover quicker. Fighter A might beat fighter B if both on level pegging but maybe not if fighter B is juiced up and fighter A isn't.gilgamesh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:26The heart of succeeding in sports is still and always will be learning and perfecting your craft. PED's aren't just gonna magically make you a good fighter. They just help you maintain your athleticism when your prime would probably be slipping away from you without assistance.Controversial wrote: ↑26 Apr 2020, 13:24
Cheating has always been rife in sports though. The mob fixed loads of fights, bent judges, bent refs, fighters betting on themselves to fall over, hometown decisions etc..etc.. You can't control lots of it. They need to invest in more testing and make it stricter, will it happen, who knows. I don't think rolling over and accepting it is the answer. Who wants a young kid start boxing where the road to the top is what drugs they can take.
Even if cheating was legal there would still be tiers where the top golden boy of boxing has some pharmaceutical company designing the best PEDS for them for the right price, then they will still have an advantage. I just think legalising it will open up a can of worms and ultimately boxing becomes a game of who can get hold of the best drugs.
I doubt amateurs and novices are on PED's the way the guys at the top are because for one thing they can't afford the sh*t, and for another it's more important to just learn the tricks of the trade in those early days in the sport.