Jean Pascal manager Greg Leon leaped to the defense of his fighter after Victor Conte pushed the notion of unregulated drug testing.
Pascal famously tested positive for several substances last year and was subsequently dropped from the WBA rankings for a mere six months.
Calls for a life ban from the sport went unheeded, and Pascal returned to action last week on a ProBox TV card.
Victory over Fanlong Meng put the Canadian-Haitian in line for another title shot. However, Conte – notorious himself for a PED situation in the past – waded in on whether Pascal had any drug testing during the build-up.
“I find no evidence Jean Pascal did any type of random drug testing for this fight. He tested positive for FOUR PEDs. Did commentators mention his 4=four positive drug tests?
“Please provide credible evidence of testing. Thanx Vada Testing – transparency,” said Conte in a post two weeks after Pascal posted a video of himself undergoing a test.
When this fact got pointed out to Conte, he added: “The Florida commission provides zero transparency.
“What tests were performed? EPO? Growth hormone? My guess is no. One test for nobody knows what? Pathetic.
“In my opinion, the testing should be conducted by an independent entity. Not a commission that receives a percentage of the ticket sale dollars.
“The commission is basically a money partner with the promoter. Conflict of interest?”
JEAN PASCAL DEFENSE
Those comments obviously riled up Greg Leon, who gave Conte a dressing down when defending Pascal.
Leon stated: “In my opinion, you shouldn’t be able to make products without an independent entity over your shoulder the whole time.
“And the way you only endorse VADA damages their reputation because it makes me wonder if you have an interest in the company or know how to beat their test.
“Cheats got caught before Vada, you should know.”
Conte responded: “You seem to be uninformed. State commission testing for boxers is inept. In my opinion, one single test for Jean Pascal after four positive drug tests is unacceptable.
“There should be reasonable consequences.”
GREG LEON
As Conte does not know how many tests Pascal underwent, Leon outlined Pascal’s intentions to be transparent this time around.
“Uninformed is cute. This says the person who failed to seek any information from involved parties he had contacts for before tweeting irresponsibly.
“Don’t forget, Jean Pascal will take any test you’re willing to pay for.”
As things stand, Pascal is free to compete and make a living despite those failures in the past. Boxing still has a long way to go to combat the disease of banned substances in the sport.
It’s not Pascal’s fault boxing is so far behind when it comes to punishments for wrongdoing. If he’s able to fight and allowed to fight, there’s pretty much nothing anyone can do to stop him.
Whether he does or doesn’t isn’t any business of anybody elses either. It’s down to the sanctioning bodies and commissions to tighten their regulations.
