By Dan Ambrose: The WBC will not be stripping super featherweight champion Oscar Valdez of his title nor will they be punishing him for his two positive tests for the banned performance-enhancing drug phentermine.
Subsequently, Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) has been cleared by the World Boxing Council to go ahead with his title defense against #14 WBC Robson Conceicao (16-0, 8 KOs) on September 10th on ESPN+ at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
According to Mike Coppinger, the WBC doesn’t view phentermine as a PED, despite VADA having it as one of the drugs that they’ve banned due to it being a CNS [central nervous stimulent] that helps in weight loss and training.
The news of the WBC allowing Valdez to keep his 130-lb title has been with anger from the boxing public, as the fans don’t agree with this.
They believe that Valdez is being given special treatment because he’s a popular fighter, who trains out of the same gym as the ‘Face of Boxing’ Canelo Alvarez in San Diego and shares the same trainer in Eddy Reynoso.
.@wbcmoro tells ESPN Oscar Valdez won’t be stripped or face any punsishment after the organization determined phentermine isn’t a performance-enhancing drug. This is despite WBC using VADA for its Clean Boxing Program. VADA bans the PED, a central-nervous stimulant
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 3, 2021
The message that the WBC is unwittingly giving other fighters is that it’s okay to use substances like phentermine during training camp, as the sanctioning body doesn’t view it as a PED.
Victor Conte, the former founder of Balco labs, says phentermine is a strong PED, that helps fighters lose weight and gives them an edge.
VADA views phentermine as a PED, which apparently doesn’t mean anything with the WBC. They’re a sanctioning body, not a drug-testing agency. Thusly, it strikes one as odd that the WBC is determining what is a PED and what isn’t.
VADA, the experts, have determined that phentermine IS a performance-enhancing drug, and that should be sufficient for the WBC to go ahead and strip Valdez of his 130-lb title and penalize him.
“It is simple, this is not a performance-enhancing drug,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said to Mike Coppinger of ESPN. “It is like if you take three Red Bulls. In the anti-doping world, there are hundreds of substances.
“However, Victor Conte says it’s a powerful PED that would increase energy, endurance, and stamina.”
So, there it is. The WBC doesn’t recognize phentermine as a PED, and for that reason, they won’t suspend or strip Valdez of his 130-lb title. There are no words that can express the disappointment this writer has with the WBC’s ruling.