Doping has taken a firm grip on many sports around the world. For some, the allure of victory outweighs the potential sanctions such performance enhancement carries with it. Moral obligations go out the window in the face of the lucrative and enticing world of sporting celebrity. Cycling and athletics are the most obvious examples of sports that have been tarnished by the brush of doping, but to assume that doping is confined to only a select few sports is wishful thinking.
Boxing has had its fair share of controversy when it comes to performance enhancement, one of the lesser-known examples is Alexander Povetkin, who takes on Anthony Joshua on Saturday, 22nd September. The Russian was originally suspended indefinitely but had his suspension reduced to one year on appeal. Povetkin has returned in time for his fight with Joshua, but the Joshua vs Povetkin odds heavily lean in the defending champion’s favour, with the British boxer priced at 1/12.
The following are some more famous examples of fighters who have been hit hard by bans and suspensions for their involvement in doping.
Tyson Fury
Tyson Fury’s battle, against both UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and the British Board of Boxing Control (BBBofC), was an arduous and drawn out affair. In October of 2016, the Manchester-born fighter vacated his WBA, IBO and WBO Heavyweight titles, as the cloud of a pending doping investigation circled around him. The then 28 year-old also cited medical and mental health issues as his reasoning for stepping away from the sport.
Fury was eventually suspended by the BBBofC, and later stripped of his The Ring magazine’s Heavyweight Championship as well as the three titles he resigned. A long and bitter series of hearings ensued and, in late 2017, Fury was eventually given a two year ban, which was backdated to December 2015, essentially freeing him to re-apply for his boxing license as soon as he desired. It was reported that UKAD had spent almost £600,000 on legal fees throughout the case.
The 6ft 10in ‘Gypsy King’ made his return to the sport in June of this year with a fight against Sefer Seferi in Manchester, and although the pairing was something of a mismatch, Fury proved that he has what it takes to return to the top of the sport. With a crunch showdown against Deontay Wilder around the corner, Fury has the chance to prove that his doping woes are behind him.
Canelo Alvarez
One recent doping episode in the sport of boxing involved the highly rated middleweight fighter Saul ‘Canelo' Alvarez. The Mexican tested positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol — used to relieve asthma among other effects — in early 2018. Alvarez was hit with a six month ban by Nevada boxing regulators, a sentence deemed by some to be quite lenient given the usual minimum ban for a first-time doping offence is one year.
Alvarez maintained his innocence throughout the ban, claiming that contaminated meat had been the cause of his consumption of such substances. The 28 year old returned to the ring in September where he recorded a dramatic win in his rematch with Gennady Golovkin, inflicting a first professional defeat on the Kazakh boxer.
Eric Molina
American Eric Molina, who fought and lost against Anthony Joshua in December 2016, was handed a two year ban in May of this year taking the prohibited substance dexamethasone. Although the drug is not performance enhancing, it can give an unfair advantage to endurance fighters.
AJ OPPONENT RECEIVES BAN: Eric Molina given two-year ban from UKAD after testing positive for a prohibited substance following defeat to @AnthonyFJoshua
FULL DETAILS: https://t.co/l5Iyn7q4ZK pic.twitter.com/8uW4U7Sbqo
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) May 22, 2018
UKAD, in their assessment of Molina’s actions, said that the 36 year old “did not look to cheat,” although those words will have come as little comfort to the American, who still faces the prospect of another 18 months out of the ring.
The sad reality is that as long as the potential financial gain in professional sport continues to rise, so too will be the means by which athletes and their sponsors use to achieve success. Boxing is a sport that rewards the fittest, strongest and most agile. Thus it is highly susceptible to those who would seek to take advantage of this fine sport’s virtues and use them for personal gain.
In this age, where sporting authorities simply cannot keep up with the rate of medical advancement and new technologies, vigilance is needed to ensure that boxing does not become a bastion for that which all true sports fans detest: the cheat.
