By Pete Axline: British heavyweight Dillian Whyte has allegedly tested positive for a performance enhancing substance in a test conducted by UKAD for his fight last Saturday night against Oscar Rivas at the O2 Arena in London, England, according to Thomas Hauser in an interview with Boxing Social. Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) defeated Rivas by a 12 round unanimous decision to win the interim WBC heavyweight title.
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he was cleared to fight Rivas by UKAD, BBBofC and VADA. Rivas’ promoter Yvon Michel states that he wasn’t informed about Whyte’s positive test, and he’s not happy about it. They had a hearing for Whyte, and he was given an all clear to fight, says Hearn.
Rivas’ promoter comments on Whyte’s positive test
“It is with great stupefaction we have learned yesterday, the news about the testing result of DillianWhyte before the WBC Boxing title against our Oscar ‘Kaboom.’ Up to this moment nobody on the concerned parties have confirmed or denied to us this information,” said Michel on his Twitter in talking about finding out about Whyte’s positive test by reading an article about it on Tuesday.
The victory made Whyte, 31, the mandatory for WBC champion Deontay Wilder. As of now, there’s no word whether the World Boxing Council will step in and rule the Whyte-Rivas results a no contest. Wilder might be so eager to defend his WBC title against Whyte if it turns out he did test positive for a performance enhancing drug. Given that Whyte was cleared to fight by UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control, it’s unlikely the WBC will look to keep him from fighting for a world title in 2020.
Whyte’s B-sample needs to be examined
Hauser says Whyte’s B-sample from his UKAD test needs to be examined to see if that sample tests positive as well for a performance enhancing drug. Even if it does, it could take as long as a year or more for the situation to be adjudicated, according to Hauser. In the meantime, Whyte will presumably be able to use his mandatory status with the WBC to challenge champion Deontay Wilder by May of next year. That’s the time limit the WBC recently gave for Whyte to be given his title shot as part of their resolution.
What we don’t know is the following :
- Who is Hauser’s source for this information?
- Is that information valid?
- Is there a B-sample?
- What drug did Whyte allegedly test positive for, if any?
- Does Hauser know what he’s talking about?
Whyte had been the #1 ranking contender with the WBC for over 600 days, and he and his promoter Hearn felt that he should have been given a title shot well before that time. However, Whyte didn’t take part in an eliminator until now when he faced Rivas last weekend. Whyte had turned down a title eliminator last year against Luis Ortiz.
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn reacts to his positive test for PEDs
“Further to reports I can confirm that both Dillian Whyte and Oscar Rivas were subject to extensive VADA and UKAD testing for their bout. Both fighters were cleared to fight by both bodies and the BBBofC,” said Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn said on his Twitter account in talking about the positive test.
The big question is why didn’t Rivas and his promoter Yvon Michel not know about the results of Whyte’s positive test? Hauser says that only the fighter testing positive, his promoter and the BBBofC are alerted to the positive tests, and not the opponent and his promoter. It’s unclear why that would be that way, because it would be useful for the opponent and his team to know if their opponent is testing positive for a performance enhancing drug. If the hearing that Whyte attended before his fight with Rivas decided that there was nothing there from his test, then it’s understandable why Rivas wasn’t informed. There would nothing for him to be told.
Rivas’ camp was never notified of Whyte’s positive test says Hauser
“I got a phone call yesterday afternoon from somebody that advised me of the possibility that Dillian Whyte had tested positive for an illegal performance enhancing drug,” said Thomas Hauser to Boxing Social. “When you look at the systems in the UK, UKAD can test someone positive for performance enhancing drugs, and yet until the entire appeals process plays out, which can take a year or more, important parties are not notified. For example, in this case, the Rivas camp was never notified. So for me it’s a systems failure, and you have to look at the role played not only by UKAD, but also the entire British Board of Control.
I understand you don’t want to condemn somebody until there’s evidence that they’ve something wrong, but by the same token, but do you really want to endanger a fighter’s life by putting them in the ring with someone that appears to have tested positive for an illegal performance enhancing drug and not telling the fighter about it. What I would like to see is a network not put a fighter on television unless he’s submitted to year round testing by VADA. That, to me, is how you clean up the sport, and you have the promoters go along with that,” said Hauser.
Andy Ruiz Jr’s reaction to Whyte’s positive test; says he won’t fight Joshua in UK
IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. has already reacted to the news of Whyte’s positive test by saying he doesn’t want his rematch with Anthony Joshua to take place in the UK.
“I’m not going to the UK for the rematch. #iss,asetup,” said Ruiz @AndyRuizjr.
Whyte vs. Rivas fight didn’t have a lot of VADA testing says Hauser
“Many of the drugs that athletes use today leave the system within 24 hours,” said Hauser. “You can test someone once a month, and you only have a one in thirty chance of bagging that fighter if he’s using a performance enhancing drug. It’s really more of a deterrent effect. If I’m using and I get caught, it’ll be a serious problem. If you’re caught, and you’re not seriously punished, then you keep using. The problem is the system. There was VADA testing for this fight, but not a lot. This was not the sort of show where you had regular testing [by VADA]. In this instance, VADA had a fringe role. People like to say, ‘Oh, we’re tested by VADA.’ UKAD did the primary testing for this fight, and UKAD test came back,” said Hauser
Hauser says that VADA did only fringe level testing for the Whyte vs. Rivas fight, and not a lot of testing. He says the main testing organization was UKAD. It cost a lot of money to have VADA testing, according to Hauser. Saul Canelo Alvarez has year round testing with VADA, but it costs him $50,000. He’s one of the fighters that can afford that kind of money. The average fighter, who just scraping by in the sport of boxing, likely can’t afford to pay $50,000 a year for VADA testing. That’s a lot of money. If a promoter pays for each of their fighters in their stable to have year round testing, it quickly adds up. Could potentially cost millions for a promoter with a huge stable of fighters.
Rivas’ camp didn’t know about Whyte’s positive test says Hauser
“Under VADA’s contracts, the drug testing results are sent to both fighter’s camps, the state Athletic Commission, and to the promoter,” said Hauser. “From what I understand, UKAD’s contracts, they only notify the fighter that tests positive, the promoter, the BBBofC. They do not notify the opposing fighter’s camp. So, Oscar Rivas went into the fight not knowing there had been a positive test test. That, to me, is wrong. That might be in accord with the contract, and it might be in accord with the system, but that tells me the system is broken. They need to fix the system. The WBC [World Boxing Council] had no knowledge of this until I wrote the article. I wasn’t a VADA test, so they were never notified about this.
The first the WBC heard about this was when the article was posted just today [Wednesday]. What we know from past experience is UKAD can take over a year to adjudicate these things. After Tyson Fury’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko, there was a revelation that he [Fury] had tested positive for a banned substance. Initially, people assumed this was in relation to the Klitschko fight, and it turned out, no, it was from Fury’s fight with Christian Hammer long before that [nine months prior]. It took forever to adjudicate. It does not take long to test a B-sample. I’ve been told what the banned substance is,” said Hauser about the performance enhancing drug test Whyte allegedly tested positive for,” said Hauser.
Rivas, 31, is likely upset about hearing all this stuff about how Whyte had allegedly tested positive. Don’t be surprised if Rivas starts calling for a rematch with Whyte. That’s a given. We’ll have to wait for all of this to play out to see where it goes. But for now, Whyte is the interim WBC heavyweight, and the mandatory to face Wilder. Until told otherwise, he’s i line to fight for the WBC title by May of next year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqTDFV8EPKU
Whyte’s positive test is from a PED says Hauser
“I haven’t double sourced it yet, so I’m not prepared to say right now what it is,” said Hauser. “But what I will say is it’s something regarded as a performance enhancing drug, and everybody understands it’s a performance enhancing drug. Again, this hasn’t been double sourced, and we’re talking about a serious issue. But Dillian Whyte can certainly tell people what the drug is if he chooses to do so. The B-sample will come back really quick, particularly, because you now know what the substance is you’re looking for. You should be able to get the B-sample back within 24 to 48 hours. What happens next is up to the BBBofC [British boxing Board of Control], and the parties involved.
I have no reason to believe Eddie Hearn is culpable in this instance. Eddie Hearn was following the rules of the contract. I don’t know who specifically contracted with who to take these tests. But Eddie Hearn might well have been contractually or administratively precluded from notifying the Rivas camp about this. So I’m not prepared to make a judgement about Eddie Hearn at this point. I am prepared to make a judgement on the system,” said Hauser.
Hauser isn’t ready to reveal the drug that Whyte tested positive for, but he is willing to say that it’s a performance enhancing drug, and not a recreational drug that wouldn’t enhance his performance.
VADA testing should be done for all fights on networks says Hauser
“The promoters and the networks can join them by saying, ‘you will not fight or us unless you undergo VADA testing,” said Hauser. “They’re subject to VADA testing 365 days a year. Why can’t BT and Queenbury say that to their fighters? Why can’t Sky and Matchroom get together and say that to their fighters? That’s how you start to deal with this problem. I can’t blame a promoter for following the rules. When you have to do is look at the rules, and change the rules. And if you break the rules, which fighters do if they knowingly use performance enhancing drugs, then you punish the wrongdoer. But again, don’t just go after the fighter, go after the whole supply network,” said Hauser.
The problem with all fighters being tested in who would pay to have this done? If the fighters are going to be tested year round at $50,000 per fighter, who pays for that? The fighter? If the fighter isn’t making enough to pay $50,000 per year, it would put a burden on their promoters, and that would be costly. To be tested by VADA year round would add up, and it’s unclear whether the fighters could pay for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbIr2hqeziY
Deontay Wider reacts to news of Whyte’s alleged positive tests for PEDs
“Now here you have a fighter that has been recently reported of taking PEDs (Performance Enhancements Drugs),” Wilder said on his Instagram post about Whyte. “In fact, it was said he had over more than 1 substance in his body. This fighter has been caught before using PEDs so this is his second attempt. This shit has to stop…the bleeding has to stop somewhere. We just had a fighter f—–g die in the ring because of taking too many blows to the head and you have idiots like Dillian Whyte want to CHEAT just to come up in his career because he’s not good enough to do it alone,” said Wilder.
“Oscar Rivas was his opponent that Dillian fought recently on drugs in which Oscar dropped this drug user and almost beat him, so Mr. Whyte all that and the s–t halfway worked you still got put on your a–!!! I’d get my money back!!!” said Wilder. “He’s been claiming to want to fight me but the question is if your doping with a non-champion just imagine what you will try to use if you had the chance to fight me? (Overdose). Him and his promoter Eddie Hearn gave the WBC Boxing and @wbcmoro hell while all along this MF has been cheating smh [shake my head] then have the audacity to try and snitch on his countrymen AJ [Anthony Joshua] and accuse him of doing drugs when he himself is doing it as well.
Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) is obviously heated up, because Whyte is his mandatory challenger. If Wilder ends up facing Whyte in the UK, and he tests positive before the contest, it would be deeply upsetting for the Bronze Bomber. Wilder might psyche himself out by thinking about something that’s not there in wondering whether he’s using or not. If Wilder worries about it enough, he might end up losing the fight based on make believe stuff instead of dealing with what is.
Wilder: Whyte’s promoter tried to cover it up
“On top of that, his promoter tried his best to cover this up before Whyte’s recent fight,” said Wilder. Somebody come and look at this s–t. I get criticized about saying things like ‘I’m going to kill you’ and mean it, but without any substance whatsoever in my body but here you have so many fighters like the likes of Dillian Whyte that flood their body with PEDs just to advance to the next level, while committing an attempt to murder but want to speak against PED users smh, GTFOH. Lmao. Boxing’s a place where you can hate it but love it all at the same damn time. This n— is definitely the Donkey Of The Year!!! #TilThisDay #HEE-HAW #EEYORE,” said Wilder.