Andre Ward is good, but...

Yes, but isn't your assumption that he isn't taking anything? Then, he should just drop him to avoid suspicion. If he isn't doing anything wrong, why would he want to get around the current testing system?

 

My point is simple. The only reason anyone should want Conte gone is because they feel he may try to help Ward cheat. However, if you believe that he is able to do this then the real solution is changing the testing protocals, not banishing Conte. Banishing Conte would just be a p.r stunt and would essentially be meaningless. Conte developed a ton of legal supplements in addtion to the illegal stuff he did. Conte is a smart guy. He has a great understanding of the human body and can help an athlete perform at his best through legal means.

 

If Pacquiao were working with Victor Conte, Floyd fans would want to have him banned from boxing.

I personally agree that until a "smoking gun" appears, an athlete has the right to be presumed to be innocent of any wrong doing. Is being associated with a guy of Conte's reputation considered to be a smoking gun?

I think it's more of a "smoking gun" than just a refusal to agree to the terms of another fighter.

This is the biggest problem I have with the Mayweather claims. Are we justified in claiming that anyone is taking PEDs if they have a great performance? Are we being morally just or is there an alternative motive behind our actions? Is this the appropriate action for our sport; making claims without any concrete evidence?

Something to think about for the future of our sport.

 

It is not neccesarily possible to catch all cheaters anyway, as you seen in cycling for example. Those who did cheat though, (eg Conte), should be banished for good. It makes for insecurity in the sport. So my point is this: Anyone caught cheating, admitting to cheating should be banished from this (and any other) sport, for good.

 

Oh come on, let's not turn another thread into a Pac-Mayweather debate.

 

Exactly, Unfortunately Eddie Chambers is working with conte too Hopefuly nothing shady especially from ward because he seems like such a classy guy.

 

Fair enough. Then someone should petition to have him banned. If not, then Ward has every right to hire him.

 

It's not...it's a PED debate where the Floyd/Pac argument is relevant. I am just posing the question if this "witchhunt" mentality is healthy for the sport of boxing. What will boxing fans be discussing if Eddie Chambers upsets Wladimir Klitschko? He is currently working with Victor Conte as well.

I don't think it's healthy for the sport of boxing to deface a brilliant performance in the ring by posing an unmerited question, as in the case of Andre Berto dominating Mikkel Kessler. My theory is that it will lend itself to an underappreciation of great performances and will be ultilmately unhealthy for the sport.

 

I'm not saying he dopes, but....... i guess i don't see any other reason for him to hire Conte, given the bad press it will give him.

 

Every right to: Sure.

I don't know if i like it though.

 

To me this is very political...hence the Floyd/Pac referral. I think there will be an extreme double standard on both sides of the argument if this mentality is continued. I don't see any negative press in the case of Andre Berto or Eddie Chambers, at least not yet. We'll have to wait and see. My guess is that until proven to be guilty of any wrong doing, fighters like Andre Ward won't receive much scrutiny.

 

Well if Andre Berto could dominate Mikkel Kessler then I'd really suspect something fishy going on.

 

This is what Doug Fischer says on it....I think he;s spot on in this:

"Conte did his time for his past crimes, he knows his s__t and he’s right there in the Bay Area. I don’t blame Ward for utilizing his nutritional know-how and I doubt Conte is still in the illegal PED trade. If he got busted again, he’d be ruined and have to go underground after getting out of the pen."

 

the way I see it the fact that Ward is working with Conte would make him more likely to be clean than anyone else because he knows all eyes are on him.

 

At this point, I have trouble believing that Conte isn't anything other than on the straight and narrow. He's been working with USADA, and he has the feds watching over him like a hawk. Even when Conte was selling roids, he had a legitimate business selling supplements, and he's still selling those supplements. He also does work with hyperbaric chambers and the like that are supposed to increase red blood cell count (which is shady, but legal). Pretty much every scientific evidence I've read says that his products are relatively bunk though. Not really a scam per se, but they don't work that well, sort of like how Echinacea and St. Johns Wort do work, but for them to have the intended effect, you'd need to eat so much of it that it would be harmful.

As for Ward, I've never liked him. I don't know why. I SHOULD like him. Against Kessler, I saw a young Bernard Hopkins. He might have the highest ring intelligence of any fighter out there, which helps make up a lot for his lack of any one spectacular physical talent. At this point, I can see him going a long, long way.

And FWIW, Eddie Chambers is also using Conte.