by Daniel Ciminera: I have been sitting around thinking about all this talk of random blood testing and I have come up with a number of reasons not to introduce mandatory randomized blood testing. The reasons range from it being expensive, to being potentially dangerous and also outdated. I really don’t think compulsory random testing will become standard practice. I can’t think of one single positive outcome from it’s introduction. Here is some of the science behind my conclusion, and some of the cheaper, more reliable alternatives.
• The reduced blood volume in the body (or rather the more dilute blood as the plasma is replaced in a matter of hours) hampers the body’s ability to carry oxygen. This causes fatigue in a best case scenario and in more serious incidences, will directly cause boxers to be hurt and injured in the ring. Perhaps even fatally. While it is only a relatively small amount of blood they take for testing, less than donating blood for example, it can still have a drastic and culminative affect on the body (severity varies from person to person). Usually 2 or 3 vials of blood are taken at a time and each vial will hold 5-15ml, depending on who is taking the blood. Therefore, in Pacquiao’s case, he was to be required to take blood at or around the time of the initial press conference, again 30 days before the fight, at any random time after that (possibly even more than once) and then one more after the fight. Lets say they took blood from him twice at random. That means he would have had 4 samples taken pre fight at between 10 and 45ml of blood each time. He could potentially have given around 4% of the blood of an average 160lb man(180mls from 4.7l). Pacquiao does not weigh 160lbs, therefore his percentage would probably be higher and given that it will take the body up to 2 months to replace the hemoglobin-containing red blood cells (not until after the fight), Pacquiao would have been at a possible severe disadvantage in his bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Some people, wouldn’t have felt any different on a 4% deficit, however, with Pacquiao’s previous disaster against Morales after a blood test, it is reasonable to assume it would be enough to disrupt his stamina enough to have a detrimental effect on his chances of winning.
• Blood testing is archaic and irrelevant in sport today. Huge advancements have been made in urine testing to the point where urine can tell you everything blood can and more. However, urine tests can be corrupted by drinking liters and liters of water to dilute the substance, making them less reliable in certain circumstances. However, with performance enhancing drugs, they are used regularly and in quantities which could not be easily diluted out of the urine to below a detectable level. Also, when making a weight, boxers often dehydrate themselves intentionally to make sure they make the required weight so it is not likely they are going to be able to drink kilograms of water and still pull off this trick. You just have to look at how gaunt Ricky Hatton was when he weighed in against Floyd Mayweather Jr. to see the effect that alone can have on the body without the aforementioned depletion of hemoglobin-containing red blood cells.
• Even more accurate and reliable is a saliva test. It is a little known fact that saliva is pretty much identical to the blood’s plasma and only 2 types of drug cannot be found in saliva. Neither of which is a performance enhancing substance. What’s more, is that it is very very difficult to corrupt a saliva test so there is no way of drinking the result clean for example as with a urine test and also, unlike the urine test, the sample is obtained under direct supervision. Testing bodies carrying out random drugs tests in America for pre-employment testing among others, claim that saliva testing is the most effective method of drug testing. There is also no depletive effect on the boxer, so why not use them? Boxers could feasibly submit more than one saliva sample per day whilst training and right up until the minute before the fight. It is only a matter of time, in my opinion, before saliva testing becomes the norm in all drugs testing, not just sports. The only thing holding it back currently, is the fact that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) haven’t approved saliva for official tests yet. The reason it will be approved sooner rather than later is the fact that saliva is not a biohazard like contaminated blood.
• There has never been a problem with boxers “juicing-up”, apart from isolated instances of individual boxers (i.e. not entire stables under specific trainers). So why, without a sudden increase in positive tests, especially when the main suspect Pacquiao has never tested positive in his career, would it even be considered by the governing bodies. Even if it was mooted, the conclusion that it is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful would likely be reached.
It just isn’t fair to presume all athletes are guilty until proven otherwise. Nobody else in society is treated that way, so why should athletes, especially those representing one of the “cleanest” sports on earth, be branded in this way. It is an insult to the sport and I don’t believe boxers wouldn’t accept it. You can dress it up however you like with it being for their safety. But, the sport needs to move on and forget this debacle as soon as possible if it is to survive in these current changing times with MMA ever on the increase. The worst thing that could happen is that we start losing fighters too, especially now when boxing appears to be making a comeback.
It is also likely that if prima donna boxers like Mayweather start demanding extra drug testing, then the sports governing bodies, and American state athletic commissions wont stand for being told how to do their jobs. There are already more than adequate testing procedures in boxing which is proved by the fact there is hardly ever an instance of a boxer testing positive for performance enhancing substances.
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