Flashback...Roid Jones, Jr: The Steroid Scandal

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Incredibly, as late as the early '00s numerous U.S. commissions were still not even testing boxers for performance enhancing drugs.

However, in May 2000 - in an independent pilot drug testing program - Roid Jones, Jr tested 6x over the allowable limit on a T:E ratio test after his light-heavyweight bout against delusional second rater Richard 'The Destroyer' Hall.

This was criminally brushed under carpet by the boxing authorities until Hall let it slip in an interview with the website Bragging Rights Corner 3 years later, resulting in the BRC staff exposing one of the biggest boxing scandals of that era and corruption at the highest level of the sport.

Back to 2000; after the initial, laughable "nasal decongestant" knee-jerk excuse, Jones' legal team realized they were sat on a massive scandal and needed a careful damage limitation exercise to protect Roid's fraudulent legacy, so - after 3 weeks of planning - came up with Androstenedione within the supplement "Ripped Fuel" follow-up excuse as a defense against the failed test, which the media then mindlessly parroted in 2003 after Hall blabbed.

The highly improbable "Ripped Fuel"/Andro excuse was not substantiated because it obviously couldn't be with the initial testosterone test. That was merely a p*ss test indicator. A follow-up test with CIR screening - a standard protocol - would determine the source of Roid's abnormally high testosterone levels, which we'll get to further on.

Let's spell it out; the testosterone in your body produces testosterone metabolites at a ratio of 1:1 on average to epitestosterone metabolites. Exogenous testosterone (what comes from outside the body; injections, pills) doesn't make any epitestosterone metabolites thus the ratio goes out of whack. Conversely, a substance which supposedly causes the body itself to produce more testosterone would simply increase natural testosterone, not exogenous (which is what the T:E test is for).

With the testosterone booster "Ripped Fuel" and other over-the-counter pro hormone stuff, the amounts of steroid formed in the body are so minute that they would not cause someone to fail a T:E ratio test, much less be over it by 6x. Basically it wasn't Andro. If Roid even did use "Ripped Fuel".

Controlled clinical studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association prove this;

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10359391

All this points to anabolic steroids being the cause. The "Ripped Fuel" excuse - which came solely from Roid's attorney - was a weak red herring, with Andro used as an obvious smokescreen intended to distract from the real reason for the high T:E ratio and hide the true identity of the actual steroids being taken, due to Andro being legal yet classed as a "steroid" itself (if only because of its chemical structure). As a "PED" it's completely useless yet came with the negative side effects and was ultimately banned due to being dangerous garbage, not because it acted in any way like an anabolic steroid.

Other athletes such as Mark McGwire also confessed to using Andro as an attempted cover-up for steroid use after full PED screening was proven to expose that excuse as a lie.

This meant Roid Jones was on the verge of being outed as a drugs cheat via a follow-up B sample test.

Unskillful Evasion

Roid escaped punishment from the Indiana State Athletic Commission where the Hall fight took place as they didn't have any drug laws. Roid didn't have to submit a B sample to the commission so he didn't.

Jacob Hall of the commission who oversaw the testing initially wanted to ban & fine Roid and declare a NC but had no grounds on which to do so. Hall also enquired about what action he could take with the President of the Association of Boxing Commissioners Greg Serb, who simply reiterated that Hall no authority to take action, and - despite his own position of authority in the sport - astonishingly kept quiet about the whole affair. And Serb wasn't the only one;

BRC: I want to go back to something you said. I believe you said that Greg Serb, who now runs the Pennsylvania Boxing Commission, and who was the President of the Association of Boxing Commissioners... you spoke to him about this situation with Jones and Hall failing their test... Serb knew and he never went public with this story?!?

JHALL: Well, you know, there were quite a few high profile Commissions that were aware of it. California was aware of it, Louisiana was aware of it, nobody really chose to do anything about it...

BRC: Yes, but you just told me, and forgive me for interrupting, that Mr. Serb was the President of the Association of Boxing Commissioners. Is that correct?

JHALL: Correct.

BRC: And in that capacity of leadership, I can't believe that he didn't... I can't believe that the whole episode was swept under the rug like that... This story just gets better and better all the time...

JHALL: Well, it's probably, we didn't feel it was our.. you know, to call a press conference and release this information.

BRC: WHY NOT???

JHALL: That's not our job as regulators. We are not newsmakers, we are regulators...

BRC: No, no, no.. wait a second, but let me tell you that as a fan, my comment to that reply would be this... As regulators you have also promised us that you would keep the sport clean, and operating within certain boundaries and we as fans trust that you are doing exactly that.

WOW.

Roid did agree to submit further, irrelevant tests to the Indiana commission prior to his next two bouts, vs Eric Harding & Derrick Harmon. Those results were negative, and notably there was a drop off in the level of Jones' performances in those bouts. (Hall also told Roid that there were some amateur boxing clubs in Indiana and Roid agreed to send in a charitable donation in the form of a cheque for the grand total of $250 for the Indianapolis PAL.)

 

...continued;

Crime and Punishment?

The IBF was a different story. According to IBF President Marian Muhammad in 2003;

MM: What we do is in whatever jurisdiction we sanction a fight the promoter is obliged to get drug testing. The doctor, whomever the state assigns as the doctor, the promoter has to pay him and the laboratory for the drug tests, whether the state has a law or not, because it's one of our rules. That's how we went through all of this in Indiana, because they don't have any drug testing.

Under the rules & regulations of the IBF, Roid was required to submit a B sample for further analysis, and should've been punished if he didn't. Muhammad basically admitted that a failed B sample would result in Roid being stripped;

BRC: I realize that you were not the president of the IBF when this fight took place, so I hope this is not an unfair question. But, was the IBF supposed to have acted on those positive tests?

MM: To the best of my knowledge, yes.

BRC: Should the organization have done something?

MM: The[IBF] rules state that if he[Roid] tested positive the second portion of the specimen should have been sent to a lab of his choice and the local Commission for testing, and if that specimen came back positive, then that could be grounds for vacation of the title.

However, Roid refused to even submit a B sample and therefore surely should've been stripped of his IBF title and publicly shamed.

Yet the IBF - the most corrupt governing body of the '90s whose president was imprisoned for said corruption - did nothing.

???

If Roid was clean, one would assume he'd willingly submit his B sample for testing in order to reveal what caused the 6:1 T:E result, if only to clear his name.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why he didn't.

Which brings us to Jacob Hall's farcical "why take a second test when he failed the first one and admitted to taking a steroid?" stance, which incredibly seemed to work with the IBF, who failed to enforce their own rules and somehow let Roid escape punishment, officially at least; they only managed to send Roid a half-hearted request for the B sample results 3 months after the first test, then forgot about it altogether.

WOW.

Talk about a cover-up.

The fact that Roid failed the first time he was ever tested as a pro speaks for itself.

And true to form, in refusing to submit a B sample to uncover the truth, sh*t-for-brains Roid convicted himself with his own actions.

Scandalously, he got away with it...almost.

Note: Richard Hall also tested a whopping 10x over the normal limit (all boxers on the card were tested). In his defense, via his attorney - and in stark contrast to Roid Jones' actions - Hall requested his B sample tested in response to the IBF's letter regarding the failed test. However, the IBF oddly claimed to only test the bout's winner, and the Indiana commission stated they didn't have the authority.

Ironically, it wasn't even Roid's IBF title to begin with; he was merely keeping it warm for the true world light-heavyweight king and rightful IBF titlist Dariusz Michalczewski who was unfairly forced to relinquish the title weeks after he won it in Jun 1997.

...and if you're wondering where the WBC & WBA (who were the lead governing body for Jones-Hall) stood on this issue, apparently they allowed boxers who competed in their title fights back then to freely use PEDS as both organizations kept silent and did nothing. Incredible.

All in all, this was yet another scandal which again highlights just how much Roid Jones, Jr got away with during his farcical prime years. He dragged the sport into the gutter.

Roid's "legacy" - if you can even call it that - has more stains than a tramp's underwear.

Roid Jones, Jr (and other past drug cheats) would never get away with all this stuff in the VADA/USADA era of today. Nor would Roid get away with all the ducking & cherrypicking he pulled off as the ludicrous HBO contracts Roid was gifted no longer exist. Roid's Glass Jaw would've also been exposed years before it inevitably was. Perhaps by a full decade, and most likely by Gerald 'The G Man' McClellan.

Slowly but surely the truth is all coming out. And karma has deservedly left Roid a complete train wreck. Has he retired yet? LOL.

Most disturbing of all are Roid's willfully ignorant blinkered fanboys, who - when reminded of the Roid Jones Steroid Scandal - simply bury their heads in the sand and either mindlessly parrot the debunked "Ripped Fuel" excuse without even beginning to understand it, or take the disgusting deliberately dishonest "everyone is on steroids so it's ok" stance. They are incredibly short-sighted, shallow-minded ret@rds who must walk around with their heads up their @ss.

It's time to face the truth;

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The only question is "For how many fights?"...

 

How the Scandal Unfolded

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By Aladdin Freeman
18 Jul 2003

The interview took a very unexpected turn when Hall told me that Roy Jones Jr. had tested positive for steroids after their fight back in May of 2000. This revelation took me by surprise and I tried to finish the interview in a professional manner but it was hard to get back on track.

BRC: I guess realizing where you came from has kept you hungry but has also helped you in dealing with some of the people in the profession. Let's discuss your managerial issues. You're a very talented fighter, I know you have a solid chin, a nice left hook and a big right hand plus a will to win but you can't tell me that you've been as active as someone in your position should be, why not?

HALL: What's happened is at the time when I fought Roy Jones Jr. he tested positive for steroids and the WBA was supposed to strip him, that never came around...

BRC: HOLD UP, did you say Roy Jones tested positive for Steroids and was supposed to be stripped of the belt but wasn't??

HALL: Yeah, the WBA never did anything about it.

BRC: Richard this is the first I've ever heard of that, with respect to Roy Jones... I don't know how steroids, which make your muscles big and dense would help any fighter, especially one who uses his quickness to beat guys.

HALL: Well he tested positive for it. But anyway my contract with...

BRC: Wait a second, you have to explain this to the readers... You said Roy Jones tested positive for steroids and then what happened from there?

HALL: What happened from there was, my promoter was Don King at the time and Don told me that we was going to get his lawyer involved because Roy Jones tested positive for steroids and that I was going to be the (WBA) champion. Then the commissioner was notified but then nothing went through; I don't know why, maybe my name isn't big enough, Roy Jones has more power than I do.

BRC: Now did they say that you tested positive for steroids too or was it just Roy?

HALL: When we did it they tried to say I tested positive for steroids but I told them I don't take drugs, I went to my doctor and their (the Commission) doctors and nothing came up.

BRC: What I don't understand is how any boxer would take steroids, let alone one who has the quickest hands in the sport, they can't help in a fight, steroids dense you up. They might make you look good but you wouldn't be able to fight a lick. Think of Tye Fields, that guy looks like Tarzan but fights like Jane when he's in there with a guy who has a pulse.

HALL: You know I don't know, I'm not a doctor, all I'm saying is he (Roy Jones Jr.) tested positive for steroids on the night that I fought him and they didn't take any action towards him.

 

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By Scoop Malinowski
01 Aug 2003

Boxinginsider.com: Did Roy Jones test positive after his fight against Richard Hall?

Jacob Hall: "Both of them did. Roy Jones tested positive for steroids. He was five or six times over an acceptable level. Hall was about ten times above an acceptable level. He didn't mention that in his interview (the now infamous interview of July 18 with Bragging Rights Corner and Doghouse Boxing).

A letter was sent to both (Jones and Hall). The Indiana Boxing Commission followed up - I talked to Jones' people and said we were going to declare the fight a no-contest, suspend and fine him. And at that time, Jones' attorney Fred Levin and the Indiana Attorney General's office got involved.

Indiana has no law on drug testing as probably the majority of the states in the U.S. do not. The drug testing company sent us the results. Most states that don't have drug testing laws, the test results go back to the sanctioning bodies. I think most people are surprised at that. What do the sanctioning bodies do when they get positive test results? Suspend? Fine? They didn't in this case. And there's no way you're going to know about it.

Through his attorney, Jones admitted he had been taking an over-the-counter product called Ripped Fuel. That's not illegal but it is an anabolic steroid according to the IBF and other other sanctioning bodies.

So he did test positive. He did take Ripped Fuel.

Whether that's what he took or not we don't know, but he did test positive and admitted to taking a steroid.

The IBF chose to do nothing. They wanted a second test to be done. But why take a second test when he failed the first one and admitted to taking a steroid? That's where it ended.

No action was taken. Nobody did anything.

We couldn't take action (because there is no drug testing law in the state of Indiana) but what we agreed to was before his next two fights, Roy Jones would submit the results to more drug tests to Indiana. One fight was in Louisiana and those results were negative. And the other was in California, and those results were negative.

What surprised me about this is that the IBF chose not to do anything. And I have documents...what I'm saying, I can back-up. So I'm not concerned with that.

Roy Jones' people were very cooperative and very easy to work with to reach a settlement. Also, I did tell Roy Jones that there are some amateur boxing clubs here in Indiana and he did send a check in the amount of $250 for the Indianapolis PAL."

Boxinginsider.com: How many people have called you since the Richard Hall interview?

Jacob Hall: "Brad Jacobs, now an advisor for Jones, and a reporter from some paper in France, and that was it. Brad Jacobs called to verify if the facts were true about Roy failing the test. He wasn't involved with Roy Jones back in 2000. He just wanted to know what the facts were, like you."

Boxinginsider.com: Wow, that's hard to believe - that only one media outlet from France has called you about this.

Jacob Hall: "All I saw on any of the websites was that Murad Muhammad said Roy Jones tested positive for take some (nasal decongestant). But that was innaccurate. This was not a nasal decongestant."

Boxinginsider.com: Does the state of Nevada have a law on drug testing?

Jacob Hall: "Yes. Most states do not. Nevada does have drug testing. I think most people are surprised at that...they think all boxers are tested. For some time I've tried to get a law passed similar to Nevada but we haven't got that done yet. If the sanctioning bodies choose not to take action, there isn't a lot the state commissions can do. That's why I'm in favor of a Federal Commission like the one Senator John McCain is proposing."

 

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By Elisa Harrison
01 Aug 2003

What we had hoped to be a routine interview with Richard Hall days before his much heralded ESPN encounter against Julian "Mr. KO" Letterlough has turned into a modern age Pandora's box. As a recap to those who don't know... Richard 'The Destroyer' Hall stated to Bragging Rights Corner's feature writer Aladdin Freeman that Roy Jones, Jr. had tested positive for steroids use following their May 2000 meeting in Indiana... and that was just the beginning...

Mr. Freeman went to great lengths to make sure he understood Hall, since the interview was conducted over the phone and Richard has held on to his rhythmic Jamaican accent, which can be hard to follow some times. Mr. Freeman was shocked at the allegations; he even asked Hall if he too had tested positive for steroids, whether the boxing organization sanctioning the fight had been told, or the Commission, somebody, anybody?!?!?!

May I add that on the evening of the interview, I received a late phone call from Aladdin. He expressed his concerns regarding Hall's allegations and the implications thereof. He also told me that he had called Hall a second time just to make sure that everything that had been said was on the record and verifiable.

His phone call reminded me of the uneasiness I experienced after having posted a Q&A; session some months ago. I remembered the advice I was given, which helped me a lot, and I was quick to relay it to Aladdin. I told him to sleep on it, and whenever he got up, to go with what his heart and conscience told him was the right thing to do. I added, "if you do that, you'll have no regrets... and whatever your decision is, you have my unwavering support."

Morning came and I found a rather succinct email in my mailbox from Aladdin; it simply said, "we must speak to Roy." Agreed, so in an effort to give RJJ a voice, we called his Miami based advisor, Brad Jacobs, who did give me a statement in which -among other things- he stated that the Indiana State Commission had exonerated Jones, Jr.

All systems were now go, and the interview hit the web later on that day. It found its way to other boxing web sites such as Charles J's TotalAction.com and ICheehuaha's Doghouseboxing.com, and the number of visitors to our sites went through the roof.

In a contrived attempt at not missing the bus, another website who shall remain nameless posted an interview with Jones' trainer, Al Merkerson. In the interview, Coach Merk denies knowing anything about the positive tests.

Upon being told by the interviewer that "rumors" had surfaced that Jones tested positive for steroids use "prior" to the Hall defense in May 2000, Merkie was quoted as having responded as follows: "That was just rumors of people who were stating he was on steroids. Roy would be crazy, with the status he has in the community and the world as a great boxer, to even attempt to do something like that. ...The way it got back to my gym...a lot of my guys, my boxers were telling me it was all over the internet that Roy was on steroids for that fight, and for the fight with Ruiz. It's totally a lie, and whoever keeps putting those rumors out should --- they should get their facts straight --- serious things can happen in court to people for putting out false accusations."

A seemingly very talkative Merkie went on... "I don't know exactly what happened, but both of them (meaning Hall and Jones, Jr.) came back positive, like you said, (referring to the interviewer)...I didn't even know that. If Roy comes up positive for anything it's because he is taking something for his sinuses --- he has a very bad sinus problem --- but I cannot even get him to take anything..." Hmmm....

Enter BoxingInsider.com's Scoop Malinowski, and his interview with Jacob Hall, the Commissioner of Indiana Boxing. Boy, am I glad someone went to the source... Oh, and by the way, that other website, their interviewer keeps referring to the Jones-Hall steroids tests as having been pre-fight tests, when in reality, they were post fight tests... You would think that in their quest they would have gotten this pivotal point right, but to no avail.

Well, this is the link to Malinowski's interview , feel free to check it out for yourselves. But let's just go on record right now as saying that the Commissioner of Indiana Boxing's opening salvo reads like this: "Both of them did. (referring to Jones and Hall)... Roy Jones tested positive for steroids. He was five or six times over an acceptable level. Hall was about ten times above an acceptable level. He didn't mention that in his interview (the now infamous interview of July 18 with Bragging Rights Corner and Doghouse Boxing)..."

The Commissioner added, "Through his attorney, Jones admitted he had been taking an over-the-counter product called Ripped Fuel. That's not illegal but it is an anabolic steroid according to the IBF and other sanctioning bodies... he did test positive and admitted to taking a steroid... The IBF chose to do nothing. They wanted a second test to be done. But why take a second test when he failed the first one and admitted to taking a steroid? That's where it ended... We couldn't take action (because there is no drug testing law in the state of Indiana).

Back to me, and you, the readers. In case you are wondering what is the point, the point is this. Bragging Rights Corner doesn't post rumors, gossip or innuendos. We at the Corner have no agenda against Roy Jones, Jr., or Richard Hall or any other fighter. We love boxing way too much for that and it has never been our position to hurt the sport. However, we are not going to edit legitimate statements given to us in an attempt to avoid controversy.

The truth has a way of skimming to the top, and that has proven to be the case here. Perhaps an apology is in order from those who accused us of posting rumors. Someone needs to send Malinowski's interview to Coach Merkerson, who was quoted as issuing a veiled threat to those who post rumors on their websites. I wonder how one can justify that Merkie, who has been with Roy for an eternity, would be so far removed from such a serious problem as the one involving his own fighter and Richard Hall in May of 2000. How was Merkie so easily taken from "I don't know anything about that" to the sinus medicine scenario? How about we stick to the facts? Better yet, stick to the story Roy himself has made public, which blames the positive testing on the over the counter energy drink called Ripped Fuel.

I don't know how anyone else reads it, but it seems to me that the more this story gets stirred around by the Jones camp, like the proverbial you know what, the more it stinks.

In closing may I add, please don't hate the messenger, hate the message. We don't take lightly the attempts to ridicule our efforts or our work. After reviewing all the evidence, I do believe apologies to Aladdin Freeman and Bragging Rights Corner are in order gentlemen, but I doubt you will be professional enough to give them.

 

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By Aladdin Freeman
09 Aug 2003

In an all out effort to set the record straight and truly dispel rumors and flimsy attempts at damage control, we decided to have a Q&A; with the man who headed the Indiana Boxing Commission at the time Roy Jones, Jr. defended his WBC, WBA and IBF titles against Richard "The Destroyer" Hall.

Mr. Jacob Hall has been very gracious, providing us with a sequence of events that will probably stun most readers. I know he shocked yours truly. Furthermore, we requested -and were provided with- several documents which will irrefutably put to rest the real rumors and will prove once and for all the TRUTH.

BRC: Mr. Hall, how long have you been a Commissioner in Indiana?

JHALL: We have a three member commission. I have been a Commissioner for thirteen years, and I have served as Chairman in the past.

BRC: What was your reaction when you first heard that Richard Hall and Roy Jones had tested positive for anabolic steroids following their championship fight in your state?

JHALL: Well, two feelings... One as a boxing fan I was somewhat let down to know that these two fighters failed the tests, specially since I'm a big fan of Roy Jones. But as a Commissioner, they did fail it, and I attempted to do something about it.

I first worked with Fred Levin, the attorney for Roy Jones, and indicated that we were going to declare the fight a 'no contest,' we were going to fine Roy Jones and we were going to suspend him. That didn't get a very good reaction. However, we soon discovered that we didn't have a law that allowed us to do any of those things. So then, I talked to Greg Serb, who at the time was the President of the Association of Boxing Commissioners. I asked Greg what could we do, because I didn't have a law that said I can take any of those actions.

We went back to Jones' attorney Fred Levin based on my comments and talk with Greg Serb. I said we would ask Roy to take a drug test on his next two fights and send those results to us, and that he (Roy) would make a charitable contribution to a local boxing club. They were very cooperative and they did those two things.

BRC: At what point do you find out Richard Hall failed his test too?

JHALL: We found them out at the same time, I started working with Roy first. In defense of Richard Hall, his attorney at that time was David Slutsker, and he requested that we test the second specimen. We take two specimens, we tested specimen A and he failed that... Mr. Slutsker asked that we test specimen B but after dealing with Roy Jones and finding out we didn't have any authority to do drug testing we did not do the second test. David Slutsker did request, on behalf of Richard Hall, that we do a second test.

BRC: Interesting point... Is it fair to say that you didn't have the authority to even ask Roy to take those additional tests?

JHALL: Correct. They did agree because they wanted to show that Roy was not taking a substance to enhance his performance but if an athlete has a certain period of time and knows that he is going to take a test, well, he has the opportunity to make sure that he has nothing in his system, so, that at least ensured that he wasn't on some enhancing drug prior to those next two fights. Other than that, it didn't mean too much.

BRC: I want to go back to something you said. I believe you said that Greg Serb, who now runs the Pennsylvania Boxing Commission, and who was the President of the Association of Boxing Commissioners... you spoke to him about this situation with Jones and Hall failing their test... Serb knew and he never went public with this story?!?

JHALL: Well, you know, there were quite a few high profile Commissions that were aware of it. California was aware of it, Louisiana was aware of it, nobody really chose to do anything about it...

BRC: (Rudely interrupting, sorry..) Yes, but you just told me, and forgive me for interrupting, that Mr. Serb was the President of the Association of Boxing Commissioners. Is that correct?

JHALL: Correct.

BRC: And in that capacity of leadership, I can't believe that he didn't... I can't believe that the whole episode was swept under the rug like that... This story just gets better and better all the time...

JHALL: Well, it's probably, we didn't feel it was our.. you know, to call a press conference and release this information.

BRC: WHY NOT???

JHALL: That's not our job as regulators. We are not newsmakers, we are regulators...

BRC: No, no, no.. wait a second, but let me tell you that as a fan, my comment to that reply would be this... As regulators you have also promised us that you would keep the sport clean, and operating within certain boundaries and we as fans trust that you are doing exactly that. I mean, if Roy had tested positive for marijuana, we would we have heard about it.

JHALL: I don't know that you would have. We wouldn't have released that information, so if the IBF wouldn't release it, I don't know that we would have.

All this information was also sent to the IBF and I know they are not regulators, but they didn't choose to strip him of his belt(s). They didn't choose to take any further action; and partly to their defense it's that they said they wanted to test the second specimen, but my position is, why test the second specimen if he already admitted that he was taking a supplement. So they (IBF) chose not to do anything at that point, but the IBF could have taken some action. In the past they have taken action against some high profile fighters for failing drug tests.

 

...continued;

BRC: Why do you think they didn't in this case??

JHALL: I'm not sure that Boxing Commission or sanctioning bodies really give a lot of credit to steroids. They have it in their rules, the sanctioning bodies, if you test positive for steroids, you know, it's an illegal substance but I don"t know -and you would have to ask them- but I don't feel that they think it's serious.

If he had done this in Nevada he would have... like they did with Vargas, a nine months suspension, and ten percent of his purse.. you know, that's pretty substantial... So they think it's serious...

BRC: This may be an unfair question, and if it is I apologize, but is it possible that since both fighters tested positive the attitude was more like... well, this is a wash.

JHALL: I don't believe so; when both of them tested positive it kind of concerned me that maybe we didn't have a good test but we tested all the fighters that night and Roy Jones did say that he failed it. My first reaction was they both tested positive, let's declare the fight a "no contest" and in hindsight we should have tried to do that... Go to Court, I guess, in hindsight; but at the least it should have been declared a "no contest" since they both tested positive.

BRC: Granted that hindsight is 20/20, and you have already made a case for the 'no contest' decision... but if this were to ever happen again, do you feel that there should also be some punishment or penalty?

JHALL: Certainly. The ABC just recently had their convention in San Louis on July 24th. We had a medical committee, it was made up of prominent physicians like Margaret Goodman, Flip Humanski, Dominick Colleta, and a couple of others. These are probably the top ringside doctors in the country. They all recommended that we have certain standards; one of them is that all states have a urine test for illegal substances.

They presented this basic requirement for medical qualifications that we put all the fighters through, so they recommended these items and everybody that was there said they supported these items and that they would go back and pass tests in their own states to insure that all states have a urine test for illegal substances. Now, will they do it? If not that's another reason why you probably are gonna have to have a National Commission, because we have meetings like this, we have all states represented and we vote on items like this, sometimes nothing happens.

BRC: Let me take it a step further, suppose everybody votes for the testing, did you also deal with what would happen if and when someone fails the test? Obviously in your state you did the testing, but it seems like you weren't ready to deal with the aftermath of the double positive findings...

JHALL: That's correct and what I've introduced here in Indiana taking Nevada's drug testing rules, I've adapted them here in Indiana and I've introduced them over the past few years, it hasn't passed but.. it's pretty good. It doesn't require mandatory testing, only random, because of the high cost. I've tried to do that, and all the states that were at the Convention, they indicated that yes, they would go back and introduce rules or legislation that would require a urine test for illegal substances.

BRC: (Struggling...) Mr. Hall, I must tell you that I am floored by what I'm hearing...

JHALL: (Interjecting strongly...) The people SHOULD be floored about the fact that the majority of the states don't do drug testing. If I give a talk at a luncheon or something, and I indicate that we don't do drug tests, they can't believe that! The majority of the public out there believes that all states do drug tests.

You had some high profile fights... like in Memphis, I'm sure they don't do drug tests. I don't think Louisiana does drug tests, and they've had big fights down there, and a lot of these states that are having high profile fights, don't have drug testing on their books.

BRC: That's very disturbing... Extremely!

JHALL: Well, it is. As a boxing fan it is disturbing, as a regulator I found out that we need it here in Indiana. I've introduced it here in Indiana right after the incident with Jones and Hall, it's been 2-1/2 years now and it hasn't been published. I've been told by the Licensing Agency that "they are looking into it."

There is a reluctance because they feel that this is going to cost a lot but they have the cost of these tests down to where they are very reasonable, and you don't do them for every fight, you do them randomly or only for title fights. So, in my mind the cost is not prohibitive."


Editor's Note: It is that reluctance -and the lack of education on the subject- that we intend to address with high profile figures in the sport of boxing. Stay tuned for Part III of this series...

 

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By Elisa Harrison
16 Aug 2003

Marian Muhammad was the Secretary of the International Boxing Federation back in May of 2000 when Roy Jones, Jr. and Richard Hall met up for all of Roy's baubles at Canseco Fieldhouse in Indiana.

In addition to all the evidence we have discovered regarding a double positive test for anabolic steroids on the above named fighters, we decided to speak to Ms. Muhammad, hoping to add another dimension to this intriguing story. Although Ms. Muhammad was only the Secretary at the time of the event, we felt that her input would be helpful in sorting out the TRUTH.

This is what we talked about...

BRC: Ms. Muhammad, may I ask you if in fact the IBF was the lead organization for the Jones-Hall championship fight in May 2000?

Muhammad: No, it was the WBA's lead...

BRC: May I ask you then why did the letters notifying Roy Jones, Jr. and Hall about their positive tests for anabolic steroids came from the IBF?

Muhammad: Because they tested positive for substance(s) that are supposed to be banned by our organization. Roy took our title into the ring; it doesn't matter who the lead organization was. It doesn't matter if you tested positive for something that was against any of the organization's rules.

BRC: To the best of your knowledge can you tell me if you know whether the other organizations took any kind of action on this matter. Did they send a letter, anything?

Muhammad: No, not to the best of my knowledge, they didn't and I communicated directly with Mr. Jones, Mr. (Richard) Hall because I got the positive specimens back. I told them what the IBF rules said.

BRC: I realize that you were not the president of the IBF when this fight took place, so I hope this is not an unfair BRC. But, was the IBF supposed to have acted on those positive tests?

Muhammad: To the best of my knowledge, yes.

BRC: Should the organization have done something?

Muhammad: The rules state that if he tested positive the second portion of the specimen should have been sent to a lab of his choice and the local Commission for testing, and if that specimen came back positive, then that could be grounds for vacating the title.

BRC: According to my conversation with Jacob Hall, Richard Hall's attorney asked that the second specimen be tested, and it is my understanding that nothing was done regarding Richard Hall. Did the rules not apply to him?

Muhammad: Remember, the WBA was the lead here, it was a WBA mandatory. If Hall had been the IBF champion... the only thing we could do was test the winner, and the winner happened to be Roy Jones, Jr. who was the champion. Richard Hall wasn't even rated by the IBF.

BRC: And to the best of your knowledge, (and ours), they didn't, correct?...

Muhammad: Well, I only know that on Richard Hall we got nothing but I have a positive test from Roy Jones, Jr. that was directed to Mr. Jake Hall at the Indiana Boxing Commission, indicating that Mr. Jones tested positive for anabolic steroids.

BRC: I realize that 2-1/2 years have gone by, and perhaps you don't remember... but I have copies of the letters sent by the IBF to Richard Hall and to Roy Jones, and they both bare your signature, as then Secretary of the organization...

Muhammad: That's correct and there was also another one that Ms. Knight herself asked me to send... She asked me to send them, (the letters), I sent them. Then she herself sent one to ... it was directed to Roy Jones telling him that she hadn't heard from him about the results from Specimen B and that she was directing him to contact this office no later than the close of business on Friday, August 25, 2000.

BRC: The fight was in May? Why such of long lapse of time?

Muhammad: I can't tell you... Once I did what she asked me to do, it went from there... I don't know what happened after that...

 

...continued;

BRC: Can you think of any reason why this situation was never unearthed before the Richard Hall interview with Bragging Rights Corner's Aladdin Freeman?

Muhammad: Well, I really don't know... I know that I saw something on the net at one time, immediately after the fight, but nobody never called me, and when I spoke to Jacob Hall after I got his letter, he said that the Indiana Commission had no way to deal with anabolic steroids intake because it was not covered in their rules, not even banned by Indiana, so he couldn't do anything anyway, that's what he told me.
I was not aware of any of the arrangements that were made between Fred Levin, Roy Jones' attorney and Mr. Jacob Hall from the Indiana Boxing Commission.
(Editor's Note: Ms. Muhammad is referring to the charitable contribution which was asked of Roy Jones, Jr. and which he submitted, in the form of a check for $250, dated Oct. 27, 2000, to the Indianapolis Police Athletic League).

BRC: I would like to ask you if you have been asked by anyone other than BRC regarding this incident and Roy's use of a sinus medication which, according to some members of his camp, could have caused the positive test results...

Muhammad: No one has... I've only spoken to Jake Hall, period. I've never spoken to anyone from Roy's camp including his attorney. I haven't spoken to anyone from any internet sites, I DON'T READ THEM, believe it or not. Nobody has ever called me about Roy Jones testing positive.

BRC: Are you aware that members of Roy Jones, Jr.'s camp have gone on record saying that his sinus medication could have been the culprit for his positive reading?

Muhammad: This is the first I've heard of any of it since 2000, nobody has ever contacted me about anything, and like I said, when it was going on I only communicated with Jake Hall, period.

BRC: Now that you head the IBF, are you attempting to make strides toward implementing drug testing in all states? Are you working on that at all?

Muhammad: No, what we do is in whatever jurisdiction we sanction a fight, the promoter is obliged to get drug testing. The doctor, whomever the state assigns as the doctor, the promoter has to pay him and the laboratory for the drug tests, whether the state has a law or not, because it's one of our rules. That's how we went through all of this in Indiana, because they don't have any drug testing.

BRC: Do you think that in your position of leadership, as someone that people look up to and respect in the sport, do you think that perhaps you could take a more active role -aside of your organization- to help make the implementation of drug testing in all states a reality? To take it a step further, how about testing for communicable diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis, which is not mandatory in the great majority of the states either?

Muhammad: Yes, that is correct, there is no testing for communicable diseases...

BRC: But, how can that be? Boxers bleed, they bleed for a living...

Muhammad: All I can tell you is that the states have autonomy. Each state has its own individual laws and just like you have just told me you are floored by the things that the states do not require, it floors me that the Association of Boxing Commissions, which each state has appointed an overseer, like a sanctioning body, if you can't clean your own house how are you going to clean somebody else's? So, what we have done is try to work with Senator John McCain, (R AZ), to come up with some minimum safety standards that will be required by EVERYBODY, and that would include HIV testing, hepatitis testing, drugs, whatever it is that could cause a problem or magnify a problem in the sport of boxing.
I don't know personally how I can get anymore involved at this moment but through dialogue hopefully we can all do our part.

BRC: I have found out that there is a serious lack of knowledge regarding the dangers of steroids use. In closing, would you like to address that for our readers?

Muhammad: The only thing that I know about it is that according to our medical doctor the anabolic steroid has an effect on the neurological system and it's also a PERFORMANCE ENHANCER. That is why we at the IBF have BANNED IT.
When I received the report from Jake Hall, I called a few people, one of them being the Pennsylvania Commissioner, Greg Serb, because he is a former wrestler and he has done studies on anabolic steroids. I was told by him that there are levels of intake of that stuff, if you are under a certain level, then it doesn't enhance your performance. He told me that there are over the counter items that have the substance in them, and you could consume them not knowing, and not trying to enhance your performance. I didn't understand that explanation then and I don't understand it now, but my doctor -the IBF doctor- says it doesn't matter, you shouldn't be involved with anabolic steroids at all.
To get into the really details of the stuff, I must be honest with you, I was never in a position before where I had to address it, now that I am, I will get into it.

BRC: Ms. Muhammad, I want to thank you for granting us this interview. In closing, I want to say that this has never been a witch hunt against Roy Jones, Jr., Richard Hall, the Indiana Boxing Commission or the IBF for that matter. We, at Bragging Rights Corner, simply followed a story and we have been very careful to investigate every allegation that has been made along the way. We are thankful for your candor and for the information you have shared with us, which hopefully will clear up some of our readers' concerns.

 

Just look at this Roid Monster and try to claim with a straight face that he wasn't juiced to the eyeballs. It's a wonder he's never suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Jon Jones has nothing on his namesake Roid;

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Now imagine a juiced-up Montell Griffin vs a clean natural Roid Jones...

What obviously makes drug cheats in boxing even more distasteful & immoral than in other sports is the fact that they're not just using their unfair advantage to run faster or hit a ball further; they're inflicting often permanent physical damage to their opponent.

(Watch Riddick Bowe's post-fight interview after his rematch with the hideously backne-riddled juiced-up ret@rd, Andrzej Golota.)

 

Even mma meathead dork Joe Rogan knows what's up, and makes a key point here regarding Roid's downfall;

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Bizarrely, after Roid Jones-conquerer Antonio 'Milkdud' Tarver was himself exposed as a drugs cheat in 2012, Roid - a career-long scavenger and the ultimate opportunist - took the chance to shamelessly sling a bit of mud at his adopted father Antonio in openly suggesting the now-tainted Milkdud was juiced-up when he landed his apparent "lucky punch" to shatter Roid's disgraceful glass jaw back in 2004;

"You can call it a lucky punch but he did have to throw it. You can call it lucky or unlucky. The only problem I got is now that he's tested positive for steroids, it's very possible that he was on steroids when it happened. Other than that, it was a good punch, a clean punch - so I just can't go off that it was a lucky punch. But if he was on steroids, then it makes me understand on how he was able to stand there and why he was so confident to throw it, because he knows he's on steroids. Other than that, I don't complain about a lucky punch because lucky punches happen."

- Roid Jones, Jr, Jun 2012

Hmmn. I guess it takes one to know one.