Victor Conte, the founder of the notorious BALCO lab in the US, which two decades ago was at the centre of one of the largest doping scandals in history, is similarly scathing. It is a system so broken he reckons '80 to 90 per cent of pay-per-view fighters' are doping. The day I got caught was the first time they tested me.' Fought a British title eliminator - never got tested. Won an English title eliminator - never got tested. It is what he adds next that ought to shame those in pursuit: 'I won the Southern Area title and never got tested. 'I was meticulous at first but when I realised I wasn't being tested I felt I could do what I liked.' 'The only reason I got caught is because I was sloppy,' he says.
He talks freely about it and as an unrepentant doper with a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry is better placed than most to discuss the gaping loopholes of a woefully inadequate testing structure, in this country and beyond.Įx-British heavyweight Larry Olubamiwo was busted in 2012 after he was found to have used at least 13 substances What places Olubamiwo among the few is that he was caught and owned up, which led to him receiving an initial four-year ban, later reduced for co-operation. What makes him one of the many is that he was a boxer who took drugs, even before his debut in 2008.
#SNAPCHAT BOOSTING ITS ROOT OUT DRUG PROFESSIONAL#
When the Londoner was busted in 2012 after his 13th professional fight, he was found to have used at least 13 substances, from steroids to EPO and human growth hormone. When I found out Johnson was on anabolic steroids, everyone in my primary school slated him but not me. 'I'm into Marvel comics and I just wanted to look bigger, more muscular, super-human. 'I wanted to from the moment Ben Johnson got caught (after the 100m at the 1988 Olympics),' he tells Sportsmail. It has to change.'īased on an extensive Sportsmail investigation, taking in dozens of interviews from an unapologetic cheat to promoters to an idealist to those who are meant to protect them, and from there to the architect of an almighty scandal, it is hard to recall when truer words were spoken in this most dangerous of sports. 'And I want to know why this s*** keeps happening in boxing. But it is natural for me to ask if I lost to someone playing ugly. But did I? I want him to have his say and to try to clear his name. I had to tell myself I lost to the better man. 'The magnitude of the fight, the embarrassment of losing - it hurt me because I have dreams too. 'When I lost that fight it took me two months to make peace with it,' he adds. But through this remarkable saga, Van Heerden cannot help but wonder what it all means for him. He knows Benn says he is clean, albeit without explanation, and there is no suggestion banned substances were in his system before that fight in Manchester. That is why Van Heerden's thoughts are locked in a loop of doubts. He is getting animated, just as he has so often when thinking about the astonishing news revealed in these pages on October 5, which is that Benn failed a drugs test in September.īenn has not fought since he beat Van Heerden and with his multi-million-pound bout against Chris Eubank Jr now postponed indefinitely, it is unclear when he will box again. The welterweight's last fight saw him secure a second-round win vs Chris van Heerden in April Everything that has come out, how can anyone blame me for questioning it?' 'Then this guy beats me in two rounds - no-one buzzed my head like that before. 'One thing that has made me proud my whole career is I never got put down by a shot to the chin. 'I can't get it out of my mind,' he says. It is why Van Heerden is on the phone with Sportsmail from his home in California. Hell and maybe some other places, because who truly knows all the details about Conor Benn at this stage? But we do know what happened next on April 16, which is to say less than a minute into the second round, the son of a legend smacked Van Heerden into semi-consciousness with a head punch from hell. A victim's story in terms of what we will discuss here? We will not call it that.
That is what experience looks like, the nous of a 35-year-old South African who had won 28 of 31 fights, had held a fringe world title at welterweight, and in bigger pictures had endured the murder of his father and beaten thoughts of suicide after a defeat in 2015.
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