Golden Boy seeks no-contest ruling for Peterson-Khan

May

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Golden Boy Promotions has sent separate letters to the IBF, WBA and the (Washington) DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission requesting that Lamont Peterson’s split-decision victory over Amir Khan on Dec. 10 be declared a no-contest after Peterson’s admission that he had taken a banned substance less than a month before the fight.

Peterson, who took Khan’s IBF and WBA junior welterweight titles with the victory, tested positive for testosterone in March. That led to the cancelation of a rematch with Khan, which was scheduled for May 19 in Las Vegas.

Claiming it was for medical reasons, Peterson had surgically implanted testosterone pellets inserted into his hip by Las Vegas-based Dr. John Thompson on Nov. 12 after he was diagnosed with an abnormally low testosterone level, the doctor said.

“Our position is that it would be different if he was testing positive now for a substance that he took last week or two weeks ago or three months ago,” said Arnold Joseph, the attorney for Golden Boy who issued the requests.

“But in his explanation for why he took what he took and when he admits that he took the substance that he took, he said that he took it in November. The bottom line is that I think it’s black and white.”

Peterson (30-1-1, 15 knockouts) and Khan (26-2, 18 KOs) contractually agreed to have their blood and urine randomly tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), whose president and founder is Margaret Goodman.

The testing of Peterson’s initial urine specimen, collected on March 19, yielded results that were “consistent with the administration of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone,” Goodman informed Nevada State Athletic Commission director Keith Kizer.

“You can’t take testosterone before a fight. I think that it’s fairly clear because he admitted that he used the drug a month before the fight,” Joseph said of Peterson, who indicated that he passed the pre-fight urine test conducted by the DC Commission.

“That testosterone was still in his system in March, so you tell me whether that’s black and white. That’s as simple as it gets. I don’t know how I can make it any more simple than that.”

Joseph’s letter to the DC Commission went to Deputy Commissioner Alfred Grant, whose director, Scottie Irving, said they would not comment until after having officially received and discussed the information.

“We have a fight tonight in D.C., but I haven’t seen [Grant] yet, but I will probably see him yet,” said Irving. “When I do, I will ask him about it. But we haven’t officially received the letter. I will respond when we receive the letter.”

Neither Peterson’s attorney, Jeff Fried, nor IBF Public Relations Director Jeanette Salazar could be reached for an immediate comment.

But in a recent interview with RingTV.com, Salazar said Peterson-Khan will be reviewed by the IBF, which won’t decide whether to strip Peterson of their belt until after his medical records are examined by IBF President Daryl Peoples and an organization-appointed physician.

Salazar also said that the IBF no longer plans to honor the first Peterson-Khan bout as Fight of The Year at the organization’s May 29 convention in Honolulu.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told RingTV.com that Khan is now considering a July 7 or July 14 clash against newly-crowned WBC titlewinner Danny Garcia (23-0, 14 KOs), who dropped four-division titlewinner Erik Morales in the 11th round on the way to dethroning him by unanimous decision in March.

It was the third straight triumph over a current or former world titleholder for Garcia, 24, following consecutive decisions over ex-beltholders Nate Campbell and Kendall Holt in April and October, respectively.

“Amir certainly should have the belts,” Schaefer said recently. “We will ask the IBF and the WBA to reinstate Amir Khan as their champion. So our hope is that Amir’s next fight [against Garcia] will be for all three belts.”

Below are the three letters sent by Joseph on behalf of Khan and Golden Boy to the IBF, WBA and D.C. commission.

Daryl J. Peoples

President

International Boxing Federation

In Re: Khan vs. Peterson
December 10, 2011

Dear Mr. Peoples:

I am counsel to Golden Boy Promotions (“Golden Boy”) who, as you know, promoted a professional boxing event at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on December 10, 2011. The main event bout was fought between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson for the WBA Super Lightweight Super Championship and the IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship (“the Bout”). The judges awarded Mr. Peterson a very close split decision victory over Mr. Khan. Following the Bout, Golden Boy and Khan filed a protest with your organization through which we objected to the officiating and scoring of the Bout and subsequently withdrew the protest. The WBA ordered a rematch bout that was scheduled to take place on May 19, 2012 (“the Rematch”). As you probably know, because of the report of a positive drug test administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (“VADA”), the Nevada State Athletic Commission (“NSAC”) has refused to issue Mr. Peterson the license necessary to participate in the Re-Match without a hearing before the NSAC’s commissioners which cannot legally take place until Tuesday, May 15 at the earliest, causing a cancellation of the Rematch. Since the disclosure of the test result, Mr. Peterson, through counsel, has not only admitted that he had a performance enhancing substance (synthetic testosterone) implanted in his body, he has admitted that the substance was administered to him in November of 2011, less than one month before the Bout and consequently, as will be explained later in this letter, was in his system at the time of the Bout. In light of the positive test result and the admission by Peterson that he had a performance enhancing substance in his system, we request that the IBF declare the Bout a no-contest and immediately return the IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship to Mr. Khan.

On May 8, 2012 and May 9, 2012 Mr. Peterson’s attorney, Jeffrey Fried, authored two letters (attached hereto) to the NSAC (supported by medical reports prepared by doctors retained by Mr. Fried) through which he attempted to explain away VADA’s findings by stating that there were: “specific non-performance reasons for the medical treatment and other criteria in compliance with the applicable VADA exemption rules and, correspondingly, the Nevada Boxing Commission rules.” I must candidly admit that I am not quite sure what that means so I will draw your attention to the specific comments of the doctors. The doctors reported that subcutaneous testosterone pellets (a banned substance) were administered to Mr. Peterson on November 12, 2011 and that they account for the positive drug test on samples taken from Mr. Peterson by VADA on March 19, 2012. It should be noted that Mr. Peterson did not alert your organization, the IBF or the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission to his alleged condition or the insertion of these testosterone pellets prior to or after the Bout.

Logic dictates that if remnants of the testosterone inserted on November 12, 2011 were present in Mr. Peterson’s system on March 19, 2012 and accounted for a finding by VADA that there were illegal substances in Mr. Peterson that were consistent with the administration of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone, then the substance was most definitely in his system on December 10, 2011.

In light of the above we submit that Mr. Peterson had a performance enhancing substance in his system prior to and during the Bout, and as a result thereof, the Bout should be declared a no-contest and the IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship should be returned to Mr. Khan.

I thank you in advance for your assistance with these requests and I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Sincerely,

Arnold C. Joseph

Mr. Alfred Grant

Deputy Commissioner

District of Columbia Boxing & Wrestling Commission

In Re: Khan vs. Peterson
December 10, 2011

Dear Mr. Grant:

I am counsel to Golden Boy Promotions (“Golden Boy”) who, as you know, promoted a professional boxing event at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on December 10, 2011. The main event bout was fought between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson for the WBA Super Lightweight Super Championship and the IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship (“the Bout”). The judges awarded Mr. Peterson a very close split decision victory over Mr. Khan. Following the Bout, Golden Boy and Khan filed a protest with your organization, the IBF and the WBA who ordered a rematch bout that was scheduled to take place on May 19, 2012 (“the Rematch”). As a result of a positive drug test administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (“VADA”), the Nevada State Athletic Commission (“NSAC”) has refused to issue Mr. Peterson the license necessary to participate in the Rematch without a hearing before the NSAC’s commissioners which cannot legally take place until Tuesday, May 15 at the earliest, causing a cancellation of the Rematch. Since the disclosure of the test result, Mr. Peterson, through counsel, has not only admitted that he had a performance enhancing substance (synthetic testosterone) implanted in his body, he has admitted that the substance was administered to him in November of 2011, less than one month before the Bout and consequently, as will be explained later in this letter, was in his system at the time of the Bout. In light of the admission by Peterson that he had a performance enhancing substance implanted into his body prior to the Bout, we request that your commission overturn the decision in the Bout and declare it a no-contest.

By way of a brief background, Messrs Peterson and Khan voluntarily agreed to random drug testing for the May 19, 2012 Rematch. Golden Boy entered into an agreement with VADA for the testing. Testing on the A and B samples of urine provided by Mr. Peterson on March 19, 2012 revealed substances “consistent with the administration of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone.” By letter dated May 3, 2012, VADA advised the
NSAC who issued an order whereby Mr. Peterson would have to appear before the NSAC’s commissioners in order to be considered for a license to participate in the Re-Match.

On May 8, 2012 and May 9, 2012 Mr. Peterson’s attorney, Jeffrey Fried, authored two letters (attached hereto) to the NSAC (supported by medical reports prepared by doctors retained by Mr. Fried) through which he attempted to explain away VADA’s findings by stating that there were: “specific non-performance reasons for the medical treatment and other criteria in compliance with the applicable VADA exemption rules and, correspondingly, the Nevada Boxing Commission rules.” I must candidly admit that I am not quite sure what that means so I will draw your attention to the specific comments of the doctors. The doctors reported that subcutaneous testosterone pellets (a banned substance) were administered to Mr. Peterson on November 12, 2011 and that they account for the positive drug test on samples taken from Mr. Peterson by VADA on March 19, 2012. It should be noted that Mr. Peterson did not alert your organization, the IBF or the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission to his alleged condition or the insertion of these testosterone pellets prior to or after the Bout.

Logic dictates that if remnants of the testosterone inserted on November 12, 2011 were present in Mr. Peterson’s system on March 19, 2012 and accounted for a finding by VADA that there were illegal substances in Mr. Peterson that were consistent with the administration of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone, then the substance was most definitely in his system on December 10, 2011.

In light of the above, we submit that Mr. Peterson had a performance enhancing substance in his system prior to and during the Bout, and as a result thereof, the Bout result should be overturned and the outcome should be changed to a no-contest.

I thank you in advance for your assistance with these requests and I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Sincerely,

Arnold C. Joseph

Gilberto Mendoza Jr.

Executive Vice President

World Boxing Association

In Re: Khan vs. Peterson
December 10, 2011

Dear Mr. Mendoza:

Since the disclosure of the test result, Mr. Peterson, through counsel, has not only admitted that he had a performance enhancing substance (synthetic testosterone) implanted in his body, he has admitted that the substance was administered to him in November of 2011, less than one month before the Bout and consequently, as will be explained later in this letter, was in his system at the time of the Bout. In light of the positive test result and the admission by Peterson that he had a performance enhancing substance in his system, we request that the WBA declare the Bout a no-contest and immediately return the WBA Super Lightweight Super World Championship to Mr. Khan.

By way of a brief background, Messrs Peterson and Khan voluntarily agreed to random drug testing for the May 19, 2012 Rematch. Golden Boy entered into an agreement with VADA for the testing. Testing on the A and B samples of urine provided by Mr. Peterson on March 19, 2012 revealed substances “consistent with the administration of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone.” By letter dated May 3, 2012, VADA advised the
NSAC who issued an order whereby Mr. Peterson would have to appear before the NSAC’s commissioners in order to be considered for a license to participate in the Re-Match.

On May 8, 2012 and May 9, 2012 Mr. Peterson’s attorney, Jeffrey Fried, authored two letters (attached hereto) to the NSAC (supported by medical reports prepared by doctors retained by Mr. Fried) through which he attempted to explain away VADA’s findings by stating that there were: “specific non-performance reasons for the medical treatment and other criteria in compliance with the applicable VADA exemption rules and, correspondingly, the Nevada Boxing Commission rules.” I must candidly admit that I am not quite sure what that means, so I will draw your attention to the specific comments of the doctors. The doctors reported that subcutaneous testosterone pellets (a banned substance) were administered to Mr. Peterson on November 12, 2011 and that they account for the positive drug test on samples taken from Mr. Peterson by VADA on March 19, 2012. It should be noted that Mr. Peterson did not alert your organization, the IBF or the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission to his alleged condition or the insertion of these testosterone pellets prior to or after the Bout.

Logic dictates that if remnants of the testosterone inserted on November 12, 2011 were present in Mr. Peterson’s system on March 19, 2012 and accounted for a finding by VADA that there were illegal substances in Mr. Peterson that were consistent with the administration of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone, then the substance was most definitely in his system on December 10, 2011.

In light of the above, we submit that Mr. Peterson had a performance enhancing substance in his system prior to and during the Bout, and as a result thereof, the Bout should be declared a no-contest and the WBA Super Lightweight Super World Championship should be returned to Mr. Khan.

I thank you in advance for your assistance with these requests and I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Sincerely,

Arnold C. Joseph