USADA red flags:
In mid-May, Winky Wright was preparing to fight Peter Quillin in a June 2nd bout promoted by Golden Boy at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
*
“Everybody kept popping up positive for all this stuff,” Wright told Montoya. “Boxing isn’t always a fair game. I figured I should get this [testing] too. So I called Golden Boy and said, ‘Why we ain’t doing it?’ They was like ‘Uh, etcetera, etcetera, this and this and that, and someone didn’t want to pay.’ I said ‘Okay; I’m going to pay for it. I just want to play on the same field.’”
*
Wright and Quillin entered into a May 21, 2012 contract with Golden Boy and USADA pursuant to which USADA was to provide drug testing services in conjunction with their fight.
*
“I didn’t know the difference between [USADA and VADA].” Wright says. “I just told Golden Boy I wanted to be tested and they came back with USADA.”
*
On or about May 23rd, USADA collected blood and urine samples from Quillin. Wright gave samples on May 24th.
*
“They came to my house at six in the morning,” Winky recalls. “They took urine, blood, everything.”
*
Then, without warning, Wright was told that the testing was off.
*
“I think it was like two days later,” Winky told Gabriel Montoya. “Golden Boy called and told Damian [Ramirez, Wright’s manager], and Damian told me. I don’t understand it. All I’m asking is, ‘How do you take urine and take blood and then, all of sudden, you say you aren’t going to test it?’ Then they tried to make up an excuse and say they wanted to teach us. There ain’t nothing to teach. They took blood. They told us we would take a test and either come up positive or negative. That’s it. All I want to know is, are we playing on the same field? So my lawyer called and asked for it to be tested and they told him they threw it out. They told my attorney they threw it out. That’s crazy. Why would they throw it out? They just finished [taking samples] and they’re going to throw it out already? Does this sound crazy? We gave samples. Let’s test that and let me see the result. They threw it out. I just don’t understand that.”
*
Quillin-Wright went ahead as planned with Quillin winning a unanimous 10-round decision. Quillin, like Andre Berto and Floyd Mayweather, is managed by Al Haymon.
*
The contract that Wright and Quillin entered into with Golden Boy and USADA specifically provided, “USADA will be responsible for storing the samples after collection and transporting them safely and securely to a laboratory for analysis…USADA will send all samples for analysis to a WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] accredited laboratory under contract to USADA…USADA shall maintain Sample Collection Documentation, including test results for testing conducted under this Master Agreement, for a period of six years.”
*
“The destruction of samples isn’t supposed to happen,” Ryan Connolly states. “If that happened in an Olympic context, it would set off alarms in a lot of places. There would likely be a thorough investigation by the International Olympic Committee and WADA.”
__________________
__________________
Laughably, USADA “sanctions” Erik Morales months after he fights despite two failed drug tests
By Kevin Iole March 22, 2013 7:57 PM Boxing
The United States Anti-Doping Agency released a stern-sounding statement on Friday announcing that it had sanctioned boxer Erik Morales for two years as a result of two positive tests for clenbuterol, a banned performance-enhancing substance.
USADA pointed out that Morales tested positive on both Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, as he was training for an Oct. 20 match in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Danny Garcia.
In its release, USADA noted that it is occasionally hired by fighters and/or promoters to conduct testing because the sport does not have any regular testing program.
Professional boxing does not have a universally-implemented, WADA-accredited anti-doping program, and as a result of the lack of effective testing, many professional boxers and event organizers have contracted with USADA to conduct comprehensive anti-doping programs prior to and during their fights.
This, though, is what is laughable: Morales fought Garcia in that Oct. 20 show. USADA knew that Morales had twice tested positive. So did Golden Boy Promotions, which promoted the show. So did the New York State Athletic Commission, which sanctioned it. And so did Showtime, which broadcast it.
None did a thing about it.
