Peterson attorney admits he took pellets

By Boxing News - 05/08/2012 - Comments

Image: Peterson attorney admits he took pelletsBy John F. McKenna (McJack): In a still developing story the attorney for WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) admitted to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) executive director Keith Kizer that Lamont had taken testosterone pellets prior to his match with then WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s).

The testosterone pellets are consistent with an anabolic steroid and of course is a banned substance.

As is usually the case when a potentially explosive story breaks, the news initially comes out in dribs and drabs, but the story is already all over the internet and is being carried by several news sources.

Team Peterson now acknowledges that Lamont took the banned substance, but claims that he was taking it for a low testosterone level in his body. As the story unfolds it was revealed that Peterson came up positive in two separate tests.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaeffer stated in an ESPN interview that he was shocked that he was not notified of the two positive drug tests that had been performed on Peterson.

Peterson’s initial reaction to coming up positive in the first test was that there was no way he could have been positive because he had never taken testosterone. But when the 2nd sample came back positive as well, Lamont recalled that he had taken been given testosterone pellets in October 2011.

The problem now for Peterson is that he did not recall taking the testosterone pellets until the 2nd test showed positive. It was not until then that he remembered taking the banned substance. Schaefer was not made aware of the situation until Monday morning when he received a call from NSAC director Kizer informing him that Peterson had failed the two doping tests.

It is clear that everyone involved is in damage control mode in an effort to salvage the HBO televised fight which is scheduled to take place on May 19 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. It is unclear at this point whether or not the fight will go ahead as schedule or what action if any will be taken against Lamont. It is inevitable that more information will be forth coming surrounding the issue.

The first Peterson – Khan fight last December was also beset with controversy, mainly because referee Joe Cooper took the unusual step of deducting two points from Amir for shoving. The appearance of a mystery observed at ringside chatting with the WBA judging supervisor added to the controversy.



Comments are closed.