When Marlon Byrd was hit with a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball almost two weeks ago, Victor Conte's critics immediately tried to link him to the positive test, since he has worked with Byrd for the last three years. Conte, who provides training and nutrition advice to several players, immediately denied any involvement in Byrd's positive test for Tamoxifen, and pointed to the efforts of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency he steers his clients to for year-round, extensive drug testing. Byrd himself issued a statement saying Conte had nothing to do with his ingestion of Tamoxifen, which he said he used for a personal medical condition.
Conte has encouraged one of his top clients, the boxer Nonito Donaire, who will fight Jeffrey Mathebula at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., Saturday, to embrace an extensive testing regime, and Donaire has agreed to year-round random testing by VADA, meaning he can be tested any time, any place, for banned substances.
On Tuesday, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said at a press conference that he supports Conte's work with Donaire and his push for comprehensive drug testing in boxing.
"I think that Victor Conte has a big influence on (Nonito) and I really believe that Victor really wants to have good testing now," Arum told reporters. "People point out Victor's background which was certainly there but I think that Victor is a reformed guy. And for me, nobody knows what they are talking about more than Conte does. He really knows the subject. And his idea is to have boxing be a clean sport without all this demagoguery that goes on.
"I mean, what's going on, managers don't know what they are talking about; trainers don't know what they are talking about. I mean, Julio Chavez Jr., in his last fight, had to go to the bathroom and he delayed giving his urine sample until a little later. So the production assistant from HBO, when asked why they were taking so long, said (Chavez) hadn't given his urine sample, which of course, HBO talked about. But the fact is, a few minutes later, (Chavez) gave his urine sample and it was tested by the Texas Athletic Commission and it was negative. (Lee's trainer) Emanuel Steward is now talking about how (Chavez) was so strong when he fought Andy Lee. (Speaking as Steward) 'Who knows if he gave a urine sample?' That's nonsense. You can't do that innuendo stuff. You gotta operate with facts."
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