I was thinking about PEDs earlier in relation to Nery and how there are several categories with ascribed intent: 1. Weight-loss 2. Muscle building 3. Cardio and thus technique (tech could be separate) 4. ?? I guess my question is, are there any further categories you'd add above? Also, do boxers possibly take mental PEDs - say like your elite uni students (ritalin, etc.)?? And, are these banned? More to the point, my post is maybe to say that while there shouldn't necessarily be legal/sporting leniency for PEDs, but maybe some social leniency on fighters that take 1 category over another..? E.g., a fighter that takes PEDs to just lose weight isn't the same as a fighter that takes PEDs to build muscle/cardio, IMO. This has nothing to do with making allowances over Garcia and having a double standard with Canelo. I'm fact Canelo took, AFAIK, weight losing drugs whereas someone like Whyte took muscle building drugs. Garcia is **** and he doesn't represent the sport, Canelo on the other hand was touted as atg and the star of boxeo and tbf to him he of bloody good.
The intent is to win the fight by cheating. Boxers using PEDs should be penalized with a long-time ban from sport. It's a head-hitting sport, doing real damage - if you can't win by taking allowed supplements, you should lose and return to learning and training.
Cheers for the reply. I do agree with you on bans and I generally understand just a blanket stance on PEDs regardless - cheating is cheating. That's a fair enough position. I'm also asking about the types of reasons a boxer takes PEDs as categories with the intention of at least from an academic pov consider that not all cheats are the same (ha!). Let me ask you this question: Boxer A takes a weight losing drug and he kills boxer B in the ring, Boxer Y takes a muscle building steroid and kills boxer Z in the ring Which ones worse? Maybe I misunderstand the science of PEDs and it's net implications, but the way I understand it, boxer Y/Z would be worse the situation. Further, I was asking about mental PEDs. Tbf, when I read the translation of Nery's post fight interview - I just had a little bit more empathy tbh - a fighter's struggling a bit with weight for whatever reason - age, diet, muscle mass, bad camp, bad trainer/coach, etc. - and he needs to lose that extra 2-3 lbs. I don't necessarily condone it, just understanding why boxers will cheat and use PEDs. I maybe reviewed my own extreme dislike of PEDs users like Canelo, etc. and thought maybe I judged him too harshly.
You also have to consider masking agents and drugs that prevent side effects like gyno. Maybe not directly performance enhancing but certainly widely used.
