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Jul 24, 2005
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Bradley To Marquez: If No VADA or USADA - I'll Walk Away
Posted by: Ryan Burton on 7/24/2013 .


By Ryan Burton

On October 12th, WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley is scheduled to defend his title against four division champion Juan Manuel Marquez at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

There has been some controversy in regards to the random drug testing that will be performed for the fight. Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum previously stated that he has contracted the Nevada State Athletic Commission to handle th testing while Bradley maintains that either USADA and/or VADA will handle the testing. Bradley shed some more light on the situation during a recent conversation he had with us on BoxingScene Radio.

"My contract says VADA USADA is going to be involved. There's nowhere that says a third party is going to be involved. I spoke to (NSAC executive director) Keith Kizer earlier this week, with Marquez and everybody on the phone, and I let him know what my concerns were.

"I let them know that you guys are doing the testing that my promoter is asking for you to do but in my contract it says USADA VADA. That's what it says in my contract so that's what I'm going with. The whole state of Nevada getting involved and doing their drug testing, that's fine but in my contract it still says VADA USADA is going to be involved as well," Bradley stated.

The 29-year-old Bradley said that he has no issues with the Nevada State Athletic Commission but that he just wants USADA and/or VADA to be involved and maintains that the fight won't happen if they aren't involved.

"At the end of the day if that doesn't happen it is a breach of my contract. It is nothing against the Nevada State Commission. It is one of the best commissions in the world. They have been around for years but I just want VADA and USADA involved as well.

"At this point if they are not going to be involved there is not going to be a fight at all. Just put it that way. If this guy doesn't get drug tested at all by VADA or USADA then the fight's not going to happen," said Bradley.

BoxingScene Radio co-host Luis Sandoval asked Bradley point blank if he would walk away from the fight, leaving millions of dollars on the table, if the drug testing isn't performed up to his expectations.
 
Props: Tony
Jul 24, 2005
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Andre Ward targeting Sartison or Truax for next fight on HBO
July 27th, 2013 | Post Comment - 34 Comments
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By Scott Gilfoid: WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) has two solid choices for his potential next fight this year. Ward, 29, is looking to face former WBA super middleweight champion Dimitri Sartison (30-2, 18 KO’s) or middleweight Caleb Truax (22-1-1, 13 KO’s), according to Steve Kim. Ward just needs HBO to say yes to one of these guys, and then Ward will be locked in for his next fight.

Ward hasn’t fought since stopping Chad Dawson in the 10th round last year in September. Ward would have fought since then, but he tore his right shoulder up during training for a fight with Kelly Pavlik. The injury was bad enough to where Ward had to cancel the fight with Pavlik and have surgery to repair the problem.

Rehab has been slow and Ward is just now getting back to fighting shape, but he still needs a high quality opponent for his next fight on HBO.

Ward can’t go wrong with either Sartison or Truax. Sartison, 33, is the much more accomplished fighter compared to the 29-year-old Truax, as he previously held the WBA 168 lb. title from 2009 to 2011.

The only guys that have beaten Sartison during his 10 year pro career have been Mikkel Kessler and Karoly Balzsay. Those are two decent fighters.

Truax’s only loss came in a 10 round decision loss to Jermain Taylor last year in April. Truax knocked Taylor down in the 9th round in that fight. In Truax’s last fight, he stopped Don George in the 6th round last June in an impressive performance.

Truax might be the more interesting fight for Ward because of his power and his aggressive fighting style. Truax would be trying to take Ward’s head off all night long, whereas Sartison would spend more of the fight trying to outbox Ward and that’s not going to happen.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Duran: "in My Era, Mayweather Would Have Been Ordinary"


By Elisinio Castillo
Legendary hall-of-famer Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran does not believe Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26KOs) would have been a force in his era, when fighters like Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez were on top. He says Mayweather would have been "just another guy in the bunch."
Duran is not impressed with Mayweather's level of competition, stating that there is no comparison between the top contenders of today and the fighters who ruled from junior welterweight to middleweight 30 years ago. Duran said Mayweather should have a loss on his record from the first fight with Jose Luis Castillo and he scored the fight with Oscar De La Hoya as a draw.
"The problem right now is that Mayweather is fighting in an era where there are no real boxers. We knew that kind of style, we were familar with it. We were used to fighting those kind of boxers," Duran stated.
Mayweather has made comments in the past where he claims to be "the best fighter in the history of the sport." On September 14th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather will face WBC/WBA junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez at a catch-weight of 152-pounds.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Booth: Fury isn’t ready for David Haye
July 29th, 2013 | Post Comment - 16 Comments
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Haye Fury Haye vs. Fury tyson fury david haye By Scott Gilfoid: David Haye’s trainer/manager Adam Booth thinks the 6’9” British heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) has dramatically improved his game since turning pro in 2008. However, Booth doesn’t see Fury as being anywhere near ready to take on Haye in their fight on September 28th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK.

Booth sees this fight as a case of a raw fighter being thrust into a fight that he’s not ready for at too soon of a time for him.

Booth said to Sky Sports “As a fighter, over the past 12 months he’s improved immensely.
I’m confident as I can be that this fight isn’t right for Tyson Fury at this moment in time. He still has a good career ahead of him. It’s just that on September 28, I expect David to be the one who’s holding his hand high.”

I honestly don’t see any improvement in Fury’s game since last year. A year ago, Fury was beating the likes of Vinny Maddalone, Martin Rogan, and Kevin Johnson. This year, Fury stepped it up a little and beat Steve Cunningham.

I didn’t see any improvement in Fury’s game in the Cunningham fight. He looked just as awful as he had when he struggled to beat Big John McDermott in 2009 and 2010. Fury looked like the same fighter that was dropped by Neven Pajkic in 2011.

You see when you have a fighter like Fury taking on soft opposition instead of taking on quality opponents there can be no improvement. Instead you get a fighter that stultified, trapped in a situation where they can’t rise up. Instead, you see that fighter stuck in that position, as we’ve seen with Fury.

He’s the same fighter that had no defense to McDermott’s right hands in his two fights with him. The only difference is Fury is now three years older with a padded record going into a fight where he’s going to be facing someone with really right hand power in David Haye on September 28th. I also feel sorry for Fury because he’s going to get whipped and whipped bad by Haye.
 
May 13, 2002
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Keith Thurman is Adrien Broner's mandatory. Anyone think Broner takes it? Or moves back down in weight.


Thurman: Me and Adrien Broner is a Tremendous Fight!


By Michael Campbell

This past Saturday night in San Antonio, Keith Thurman (21-0, 19KOs) captured the WBA's interim welterweight title with a tenth round stoppage of previously undefeated Diego Chaves. The victory places Thurman in line to face the full WBA champion, Adrien Broner (27-0, 24KOs), who moved up to welterweight last month and captured the title with a split decision over Paulie Malignaggi. Thurman is planning to fight at least one more time before the end of the year.

"We'll have to see what's going to happen with that....champion vs. champion. It's the world of boxing. It's a great fight. I get tweets, I get facebooked. Everybody wants to see me and Broner. We'lle have to see what the future holds. He didn't really have the best performance against Paulie. His speed was there, but his power wasn't there in the welterweight division. Paulie really moved up from 140 to the welterweight division and he was able to take Broner's punches. I'm definitely a bigger puncher than him. It's a tremendous fight because he's a young fighter and I'm a young fighter, he's athletic and I'm athletic. It's a great fight," Thurman said.
 
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Something irks me about Broner. His cockiness isn't backed up in the ring. Mayweather was/is a cocky shit but at the end of the day he is the best so I can't be that mad. With this kid though....smh
 
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Jul 24, 2005
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More Information On The Bradley - Marquez Testing Issue

This seems shady as f*ck.

On October 12, 2013 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO welterweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley faces Mexican modern-day legend Juan Manuel Marquez. The fight is what both men are inexplicably doing instead of fighting Manny Pacquiao again. The fight is a dangerous one. Marquez is fresh off a spectacular, career-defining one-punch execution of Pacquiao and Bradley is coming off a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Ruslan Provodnikov that saw the Coachella Valley native pushed to his very limits.

But there is a fight going on as preparations begin that may prevent the bout from ever happening. At the press conference announcing the fight in Los Angeles, Top Rank founder Bob Arum announced he would not be honoring the contract of Bradley, who requested strict anti-doping tests be performed by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). His manager, Cameron Dunkin and wife/adviser, Monica both have confirmed in media outlets that this is true. However, Arum has decided to pay Nevada to just do it the way VADA and USADA do it.

As pointed out in the following link, it isn’t that simple:

http://www.maxboxing....uez-vs-bradley


Arum’s proposal to create yet another testing organization through the Nevada commission is not going to be an easy nor timely endeavor. It’s not impossible but within the timeframe of Bradley’s contractual agreement, the Arum-Nevada Testing Agency has already failed to meet Bradley’s contracted deadline to begin testing.

Bradley’s contract called for VADA and USADA testing to begin on July 13. By the time you read this, it will be July 30. 17 days of no testing. 17 days that both fighters have trained unchecked.

Bradley spoke with me and co-host of LeaveItIntheRingradio.com, David Duenez about the failed testing.

“That’s been a headache, man,” said Bradley. “That right there has been a big headache. I mean, Marquez disagreed…I guess [Arum] disagreed about having the drug testing. He didn’t want VADA and USADA. I guess [Arum] got involved and hired another outside agency. I believe it’s WADA…or something. I have no idea who they are, what they do, what they test. I have asked for all this information. I haven’t received it yet. I think the Nevada commission is involved now. They are going to be kind of like the ones that, I guess, the ones that deliver all the dirty laundry. Should any of us test positive, then there are going to be consequences behind it. There are still many unanswered questions about this company coming in. I really don’t know what company it is and what they allow.”

The reason Bradley has so many questions is twofold:

1) It appears his promoter is not informing him of the details of the newly-forming Arum-Nevada Testing Agency.

2) Because it doesn’t exist yet and Arum, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer and his legal team, et al are doubtlessly finding out how complicated this whole process is.

“It was WADA or it was something,” said Bradley.

For the record, WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency. They do not conduct tests so much as set the WADA Code, the world standard for banned substances, allowances, etc. They accredit labs such as those in Utah, Montreal or Los Angeles used by VADA and USADA. They also accredit sample collectors such as the ones not used by Nevada.

This fight will be the first in which Nevada will have to use WADA Code and not just pick and choose the parts they like such as their 6:1 T/E ratio, which is 50% greater than the WADA Code’s 4:1 T/E ratio. Doubtless, the NSAC is discovering this as it learns which labs conduct the tests that VADA and USADA use to varying degrees.

In any case, the clock is ticking. 17 days and counting. It begs the question: Why reinvent the wheel when VADA or USADA are readily available?

“I mean, yeah; exactly, man,” said Bradley. “I think VADA is definitely the best one out there based on how they test for synthetic steroids. A lot of these tests, USADA don’t really test for it. I don’t know if these other agencies test for synthetic steroids. I’m really comfortable with VADA because they test everything. I guess Marquez’s camp is not comfortable with VADA whatsoever. I just think it’s unbelievable.”

What Bradley meant by “synthetic steroids” is the athlete drug of choice, synthetic testosterone. One need only Google “synthetic testosterone” and any sport you can think of to see his statement is true. VADA uses Carbon Isotope Ratio testing, the only test that detects synthetic testosterone, on 100% of their samples as policy. While USADA has the capability and budget to conduct CIR on every test, VADA is the only testing agency in any sport currently doing so on 100% of samples as policy.

And that is the main difference between the companies. A simple strict philosophy of using CIR to detect a drug that athletes are apparently using more and more. In an age when MLB’s Ryan Braun gets to keep his MVP award after getting caught by CIR for testosterone, Tim Bradley is that rare athlete who actually wants to be tested tougher than anyone else.

Why?
Because Tim Bradley doesn’t hit baseballs for a living. He doesn’t dunk or even carry a football or tackle people. He is a boxer. He hits and gets hit for a living and that, in and of itself, is dangerous enough. Why Bob Arum doesn’t seem to care about that is anyone’s guess.

“I just want to go in the ring. I just want both of us to be safe. I want it to be an even playing field, man,” said Bradley.

Make no mistake; Bradley is not pointing fingers. But everyone in boxing knows the history of Marquez’s strength coach, Angel “Memo” Heredia. It’s well documented.

http://www.nytimes.c....anted=all&_r=0

But Bradley is a class act. He said before his fight with Provodnikov that anyone facing him will be subjected to anti-doping tests of the highest order. That’s just fighting safely in the year 2013.

“Unless you test, you dirty to me. I don’t care what anybody say. I’m not saying Marquez is dirty. I’m just saying in general, if you don’t test, man, that’s a problem for me,” said Bradley. “I told everybody I am going to start testing everyone I got in the ring with before this fight happened. I said, ‘You know what? I would love to fight Marquez if Marquez is willing to take drug tests, then let’s make it happen.’ I made that upfront. If he is willing to agree to the drug tests, then we’ll do it. If not, then hey, scratch him and we’ll move on to the next. And he agreed to it. That’s what was told to me. After the whole promotion thing, the tour and everything, he started reneging on everything. Then I heard through the grapevine that he didn’t want to take any of the tests. That’s when my promoter got involved and [in Arum’s voice], ‘We’re going to hire an outside agency. We’re going to have a third party come in here and take care of this so both fighter’s feel comfortable because I wanted VADA and he wanted USADA.”

As the Arum-Nevada Testing Agency continually fails to begin testing the fighters, the extra month (bringing the total thus far to three months) of testing Bradley wanted dwindles to nothing. That extra month would have provided Bradley with some semblance of out-of-competition testing, vital in the detection of fast-acting drugs.

“Does that scare you,” I asked about the delay in testing and lost time.

“Absolutely, man. And that’s what scares me about this. That’s what scares me about this. There is something called ‘cycles’ in using performance-enhancement drugs and stuff like that, man. Right now is not a good time. I was supposed to be doing this testing 15 days ago. I know Marquez is training hard right now. I start my training camp Monday. It’s a lot of valuable time that is being lost. And I think that testing definitely needs to be starting. That is one thing I mentioned to the commission; I mentioned to my manager; I mentioned to everybody, ‘We’re way behind schedule here, guys. It’s going on 15 days real soon and this testing should have started already.’”

Bradley feels that being treated this way despite being the champion in this situation is just par for his course. He’s being treated as the B-side because the economics say he is.

“I get no respect. I honestly feel that way, dude. Just to keep it real, I feel like I am getting no respect at all,” said Bradley. “I’ve been dealing with this my whole career. Whatever, man. Whatever. When I get in the ring, I am going to just do my job and that’s it. But it does feel like I am getting the short end of the stick. I know my man, Pacquiao is definitely doing VADA testing for his next fight and no outside agency or anything else is going down. I just don’t understand it, man.”

Things will have to come to a head soon. USADA’s deadline to begin its process is likely fast approaching. VADA conducted testing for three weeks for Bradley-Provodnikov, so it still remains a possibility. However, Arum has been in Macao this past week while Bradley-Marquez testing hasn’t even started. Will he come home to find Kizer is just ready to get the signatures and begin testing? Who knows? But this leaves yet another question:

Seeing as how Arum-Nevada Testing isn’t required (that is, Bob is paying for the one-time-only upgrade), Bradley likely doesn’t have to consent to it. Neither does Marquez. Don’t quote me. I’m no expert but this isn’t as easy as, “Hey, Keith. Just do it like VADA and USADA.”
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Wladimir and Chisora have to be pulled apart by bouncers at Nightclub in Ibiza
July 29th, 2013 | Post Comment - 32 Comments
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wladimir klitschko derek chisora By Scott Gilfoid: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 51 KO’s) and Britain’s Dereck Chisora (17-4, 11 KO’s) bumped into each other in a nightclub in Ibiza, Spain and the two reportedly had to be pulled apart, according to The Mirror. It’s unclear what was set between them, but whatever it was the two had to be separated by the bouncers at the nightclub.

Chisroa’s trainer Don Charles said to The Mirror “They have history but it was purely coincidence that they bumped into each other during their holidays.”

Yes, it is quite a coincidence, especially when Chisora just said that he wanted to fight WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko next after Chisora’s controversial 6th round stoppage victory over American Malik Scott on July 20th of this month in London, England.

Chisora had nailed Scott with a shot that appeared to hit him in the back of the head and send him down on the canvas. The referee then counted to 9 and stopped the fight as Scott got back to his feet. Afterwards, Chisora said he had “unfinished business” with Vitali Klitschko.

What are the odds of Wladimir and Chisora running into each other in a place like Ibiza? It’s pretty astronomical if you ask me.

If anyone who has unfinished business it’s Wladimir, as Chisora spit water in his face last year in February when Wladimir was in the ring before Chisora’s fight against Vitali in Munich, Germany. It was caught on camera replayed many times and it obviously didn’t endear Chisora to Wladimir.

Wladimir and Chisora were on course to fight in 2011, but Wladimir suffered an abdominal injury that wiped out the fight. After it healed, Wladimir chose to fight David Haye instead.

At this point it would probably make Wladimir very happy to fight Chisora, but he can’t do it because Chisora is a 2nd tier fighter without a top 15 ranking. Wladimir probably wouldn’t be allowed to take the fight by the sanctioning bodies, and boxing fans would skewer Wladimir if he faced a guy like Chisora who has lost 4 out of his last 7 fights. The fight would probably do well in Germany, but how do you get up for a fight against a guy with that many losses in his last four fights? That’s not even sporting.

Malik Scott was in the lead over Chisora at the time of their stoppage and it looked like Chisora was on his way to yet another loss when he hurt Scott with the right hand to the back of the head.
I don’t think Wladimir would want to do Chisora a favor by fighting him now anyway.

That would be helping him out and sending the wrong message that his past behavior worked in getting him the bigger fights. Besides that, I don’t think Wladimir would want to deal with the unpredictable nature of Chisora in leading up to the fight. Having to potentially deal with something unexpected from Chisora is probably something Wladimir would rather do without.

He’d easily beat Chisora in the ring, but having to deal with the drama from him during the run up to the fight would be off putting. Chisora would have no chance of winning the fight, so I could see him acting up the entire time before the fight and making things difficult for Wladimir.

Wladimir is better off letting Chisora earn his way to a title shot by fighting his way to the mandatory position. I can’t see that happening, but if it does it’s going to take Chisora a long, long time unless the sanctioning bodies shoot him from his 2nd tier position all the way to the top spot next year.

Do I see that happening? Heck no. Chisora will be lucky if he can get to the mandatory spot in 3 years, and that’s if he stops losing. Four losses in the last seven fights suggests that Chisora will be losing again real soon unless he’s very carefully matched.
 
May 13, 2002
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If it specifically states VADA and/or USADA Bradley has legal grounds to cancel the fight. If its in the contract, which also states Marquez must undergo this testing, Bradley imo should pull out of the fight for his best interests. However if the contract doesn't specifically state VADA or USADA Marquez has no legal or moral obligation to submit to those tests and the fight must go on.

Either way I'd love to see the contract. If Bradley is telling the truth he should hire a lawyer ASAP.
 
May 6, 2002
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Bradley's contract is not with Marquez, it's with Top Rank.
Bradley signs a contract with TR to fight Marquez.
Marquez signs a contract with TR to fight Bradley.

That's it.
Maybe it's not in Marquez's contract.
These are 2 completely separate legal documents.

Fighters don't sign contracts with each other.
 
May 13, 2002
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Bradley's contract is not with Marquez, it's with Top Rank.
Bradley signs a contract with TR to fight Marquez.
Marquez signs a contract with TR to fight Bradley.

That's it.
Maybe it's not in Marquez's contract.
These are 2 completely separate legal documents.

Fighters don't sign contracts with each other.
Depends on the contracts. Floyd has it written in his contract the opponent must do USADA testing. If Bradley is being truthful I'm sure his contract states both fighters will be tested under vada/usada.

Now of course, maybe top rank sent them both different contracts but even then if it specifically says in the contract that Bradley received BOTH fighters must be tested then he would have legal grounds to pull out if those requirements arent met.