“Arkansas,” Sirb states, “should stop all boxing and other combat sports immediately and should not allow them to resume until the state has regulations and policies in place that ensure the effective testing for and handling of situations involving infectious diseases.”
Part Two
On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, this writer reported that the Arkansas State Athletic Commission had allowed a fighter to compete in Arkansas after being advised by the Association of Boxing Commissions and the State of Florida that the fighter had tested HIV positive. The information in the report came primarily from a November 22, 2017, letter sent by Association of Boxing Commissions president Mike Mazzulli to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Mazzulli’s letter advised the governor that the Arkansas State Athletic Commission was engaging in conduct that amounted to “an egregious disregard for health and safety standards” and appeared to be “a direct violation of Federal Law.” Mazzulli concluded with the observation, “This situation is one of the most serious we have seen in many years. Hence we feel compelled to bring this matter to your attention.”
There are three primary blood-borne infections of concern to the medical community: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.
HIV is a virus, not a moral failing.
In my previous report, the fighter in question was not named out of respect for his privacy and to give him the opportunity to tell family members and others of his situation should he choose to do so. But the fact that he fought after being told he was HIV positive and recently told this writer that he plans to fight again is troubling to me. More significantly, Mazzulli’s letter to Governor Hutchinson is a public document, and there is now more than enough information publicly available for anyone with internet access to identify the fighter.
Kiun Evans is twenty-four years old and resides in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the 2011 Arkansas Golden Gloves 123-pound champion and turned pro in 2012.
Evans’s attorney, Robert Holitik of Little Rock, told this writer late tonight (November 28), “We don’t know that the man in question is my client. He is unaware of any failed test in Florida. He has not been advised of any failed test. It’s my understanding that he has tested negative multiple times. Our hope is that, when the facts come out, we’ll see that there was no failed test for my client.”
Evans won his first twelve professional bouts. Then he stepped up the level of opposition and lost three fights in a row. As of July 2017, his record stood at 13 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw with 8 knockouts. All of his defeats were by KO.
Then Evans applied for a license to fight in Florida. His application was rejected. A July 14, 2017, entry on Fight Fax reads, “Unable to obtain license—Contact Florida Commission.”
Ozell Nelson (who trained Jermain Taylor in the amateur ranks and for much of Taylor’s pro career) trained Evans as an amateur and pro. Nelson told this writer today that he was working with Evans in anticipation of the Florida fight (which was scheduled for July 7 in Tampa) when Evans told him the bout was off because he’d just learned he had lymphoma.
“Then,” Nelson recounts, “he called me a week before the Arkansas fight and said he was fighting again but was training himself. And I said okay. I didn’t know anything about HIV. I thought he had cancer.”
Ruben De Jesus is director of operations for All Star Boxing, which promoted the Florida card. De Jesus steers clear of mentioning “HIV” and Evans by name when discussing the situation. But he told this writer, “When I submitted him for lab work, he came back positive, I felt bad for the kid, so I went ahead and paid to have him retested just to make sure it wasn’t a false positive. The results were the same, and I notified Frank Gentile [of the Florida State Athletic Commission] that the kid has bad labs because I knew he would attempt to fight.”
Damian Walton was Evans’s adviser. When Evans told Walton that he wanted to fight again, Walton advised him orally and in writing that he would no longer represent him.
“The agreement was near an end,” Walton says. “And we decided to discontinue the relationship. I sent him an email, he sent me an email back, and we parted on good terms. He’s a nice young man, and I hope the best for him.”
That brings us to Arkansas.
The administration of blood tests for fighters is discretionary under Arkansas law, although the Arkansas State Athletic Commission’s regulations provide, “A positive test for the presence of infectious diseases shall result in an immediate suspension of the licensee’s license.”
Robert Brech (general counsel for the Arkansas Department of Health which oversees the Arkansas State Athletic Commission) told this writer, “Initially, the ABC didn’t advise us which fighter was involved. So after we were notified of a potential problem by the ABC, we asked for and received bloodwork on each fighter. We got the test results from the promoter. In each instance, the results we were given indicated that the fighter had tested negative for HIV.”
The Arkansas State Athletic Commission lists Richard Wright as the promoter and matchmaker for the November 11 fight card.
Then, earlier today, Brech advised this writer, “Late last night [November 27], we determined that the blood test for the fighter in question was falsified. Someone created a false document using a previous blood sample and previous test result and it was sent to the commission.”
As noted above, Brech says that the test results were given to the Arkansas State Athletic Commission by the promoter. The provenance of the “false document” itself is unknown at the present time.
Are criminal charges possible?
“That’s a good question,” Brech answers. “We’re not a prosecutorial agency. But there are statutes in Arkansas that cover knowingly filing false documents with a government agency and exposing someone else to HIV. The matter is under further investigation at this time.”
The boxing media deals primarily with fight cards in states that host bigtime boxing. We forget sometimes how seamy small club shows can be.
There were four bouts on the November 11 fight card in question, which was contested at the Boys and Girls Club in Camden, Arkansas.
A fighter identified as fifty-year-old, 247-pound Donald Caples was knocked out in the second round by a forty-year-old fighter named Maurenzo Smith. Boxrec.com states that Caples weighed 151 pounds for a February 13, 2016, bout and that he began his career at 116 pounds. It would appear as though either Caples recently developed an eating disorder or identity fraud was involved.
In other supporting bouts, forty-year-old Starr Johnson (5–28–1, 23 KOs by) knocked out Andrew Hartley (2–28, 27 KOs by) and Demario Moore (pro debut) knocked out Raymond Johnson (0–4, 4 KOs by).
Kiun Evans’s opponent was Terrance Roy (11–53, 43 KOs by), who has won two of his last thirty-seven fights. Evans weighed in at 130 pounds. Roy weighed in 118. Roy was knocked down six times before the fight was stopped in the fifth round.
The focus here should be on the performance of the Arkansas State Athletic Commission, not Kiun Evans. The Arkansas Department of Health has entrusted the regulation of boxing to a group of men and women who, collectively, don’t seem to be doing the job properly.
As for Evans, he appears to need good medical treatment so he can live a long productive life, not more fights. As Damian Wright says, “He’s a guy who wanted to fight to feed his family. He’s not particularly sophisticated. He’s a nice young man. He might not have fully understood what’s involved here. He told me he was unaware that he had been suspended in Florida and that a doctor had told him he was cleared to fight. I said, ‘Okay, good luck.’”
Congratulations to the WBC and VADA
I’ve criticized the World Boxing Council on many occasions. But the WBC was on the side of the angels on this one.
The much-anticipated November 4, 2017, WBC heavyweight title fight between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz appears to be off.
A urine sample taken from Ortiz during a random drug test conducted by the Voluntary Anti
-Doping Association on September 22—two days after Wilder–Ortiz was formally announced—has tested positive for banned substances. More specifically, Ortiz’s “A” sample tested positive for chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide, banned diuretics that are sometimes used to treat high blood pressure but are also used to mask performance-enhancing drugs.
The test was administered by VADA as part of the WBC Clean Boxing Program.
Ortiz previously tested positive for illegal drug use after a first-round knockout of Lateef Kayode in 2014. In that instance, a urine sample taken from Ortiz by the Nevada State Athletic Commission prior to the bout tested positive afterward for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone. Ortiz was fined by the NSAC and suspended for eight months.
Ortiz also raised eyebrows on April 14, 2017, when he pulled out of a fight against Derric Rossy scheduled for April 22 at Barclay’s Center, claiming that he had suffered a thumb injury while sparring on April 12. This injury was revealed shortly after Ortiz was advised that the New York State Athletic Commission had instructed him to be available for a random drug test because, as stated in the NYSAC directive, “Mr. Ortiz has previously tested positive for PEDs.”
Copies of the VADA report regarding Ortiz’s most recent positive test result were sent on September 28 to the Ortiz camp, the WBC, promoter Lou DiBella, Kim Sumbler (executive director of the New York State Athletic Commission), and Mike Mazzuli (president of the Association of Boxing Commissions).
VADA was founded by Dr. Margaret Goodman, who serves as its president and receives no compensation for her service to the organization.
The WBC Clean Boxing Program was inaugurated under the leadership of WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. It requires all WBC champions and fighters ranked by the WBC in the top fifteen of any weight division to submit to random PED testing by VADA at any time. The WBC underwrites the direct cost of these tests.
Ortiz’s positive test result will hurt the WBC financially in the short run. A substantial sanctioning fee for Wilder–Ortiz has been lost. Also, it’s likely that some fighters who are “dirty” will avoid the sanctioning body for fear of being caught. However, clean fighters may well be more comfortable fighting for a WBC belt because of the increased likelihood that their opponents will also be clean.
Over the years, VADA has tested several hundred boxers, roughly five percent of whom have tested positive for the presence of a banned substance. In addition to Ortiz, fighters who tested positive include, most notably, Alexander Povetkin, Andre Berto, Lamont Peterson, Lucas Browne, and Brandon Rios.
VADA testing isn’t perfect. Given the random nature of drug testing and the sophistication of PED cheaters today, some WBC fighters might be dirty. But there’s a better chance that WBC fighters are clean than there is for the fighters who compete under the auspices of any other world sanctioning body.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has also tested hundreds of professional boxers for performance-enhancing drugs. However, according to public statements by USADA, only one of these tests has resulted in a positive finding of an illegal substance in a fighter’s system.
On October 20, 2012, Erik Morales fought Danny Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Two days before that bout, Halestorm Sports reported that Morales had tested positive for a banned substance. Thereafter, the New York State Athletic Commission acknowledged that, prior to the revelation on Halestorm Sports, the NYSAC had not been notified of the positive test by USADA. Garcia–Morales was allowed to proceed, which was a black eye for boxing.
At present, the Ortiz camp is claiming that Ortiz took the banned diuretics to combat high blood pressure. There are multiple problems with this explanation: (1) Ortiz failed to previously state on required forms that he has high blood pressure; (2) Ortiz neither applied for nor received a therapeutic use exemption for the banned diuretics; and (3) there’s an issue as to whether a fighter with blood pressure so high that it that requires the use of chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide should be allowed to fight.
Meanwhile, congratulations to the WBC and VADA for their honest efforts to make a dangerous sport fairer and safer.
Five Days Later
The World Boxing Council took another step forward on October 4, when WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman announced that the organization had withdrawn its sanction of the scheduled November 4 heavyweight championship fight between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz.
The WBC’s action came in the aftermath of a positive test result on a urine sample taken from Ortiz during a random drug test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on September 22. Ortiz’s “A” sample tested positive for chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide, banned diuretics that are sometimes used to treat high blood pressure but are also used to mask performance-enhancing drugs. The test was administered by VADA as part of the WBC Clean Boxing Program.
The Ortiz camp claims that Ortiz took the banned diuretics to combat high blood pressure. On October 2, it issued a press release headlined “Breaking News” followed by the title, “Victor Conte Reveals the Truth on Luis Ortiz Positive Test.”
The release then referenced a video posted by Conte on YouTube and stated, “Sports scientist Victor Conte reveals in detail why he believes undefeated heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz is innocent in regard to his recent positive drug test. An expert in the field of scientific nutrition, Conte feels Ortiz was negligent in [not] declaring his blood pressure medicine but also believes there is no evidence of intent to cheat. Conte’s position is that the WBC heavyweight championship fight between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz, should move forward without delay.”
“Unless you have strong evidence of intent to cheat,” the release quoted Conte as saying, “then you don’t have a case. Let the fight go on.”
Thereafter, Conte told this writer that Mario Serrano (Ortiz’s publicist) had sent him the VADA letter and lab reports for review but that he was not paid for his work. “I don’t know all the answers,” Conte said. “I just want to make sure we ask the right questions.” In a later exchange, Conte clarified that he made the video at the request of a third party, not Serrano.
Conte also acknowledged to this writer that, at the time he made the video, he was unaware that the doctor who the Ortiz camp claims wrote the prescription for the banned diuretics has a checkered past.
Richard Allen Hill is a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, physician. A June 27, 2005, press release issued by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida reveals that Dr. Hill was sentenced to twenty-one months in prison for financial misconduct related to the wholesale distribution of prescription drugs.
Just as troubling, the Palm Beach Post reported in 2016 that at least six women had complained to the authorities that Hill sexually molested them during medical examinations. As part of a plea deal, Hill pled “no contest” to five misdemeanor battery charges.
After Wilder–Ortiz was placed in jeopardy, Wilder called Ortiz a “fucking liar, a motherfucker,” and just about everything else he could think of. Then Deontay indicated that he was not necessarily averse to the fight going forward as planned.
On October 3, Sulaiman addressed Wilder’s desire to proceed with the fight and declared, “That’s a fighter. A fighter has a heart and a desire. But there’s no compromising safety. If it is not safe for him, if it is not safe for Ortiz, we will never be part of something like that.”
This afternoon, the WBC took the next step in the adjudicative process when Sulaiman announced, “The WBC has concluded the process according to its Clean Boxing Program protocol in the adverse finding of Luis Ortiz. An official ruling has been sent to the corresponding parties. The WBC has withdrawn its sanction of the Deontay Wilder vs. Ortiz fight, and Wilder will fight next his mandatory fight against Bermane Stiverne.”
Author’s Note: As 2017 neared an end, there were disquieting signs that the WBC might be moving away from its commitment to VADA and clean sport. More on that in the year to come.
A Reporte
r Faces the Issue: To Stand or Kneel
“A sensible human being,” Walter Lippmann wrote, “always learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters.”
What began as a protest against the inappropriate use of force by a minority of police officers against people of color and the inadequate response of the criminal justice system to these incidents is turning into something more.
On August 26, 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat while the national anthem was played prior to a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. Kaepernick later modified his protest by kneeling on one knee instead of sitting while the anthem was played. His protest has been emulated by other athletes in other sports at all levels of competition.
Thirteen months later, Donald Trump got into the act. At a September 22, 2017, campaign rally in Alabama, Trump declared, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’ The only thing you could do better is, if you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave.”
A Twitter storm from Trump followed.
September 23: “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”
September 24: “If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!”
September 24: “NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.”
Protect Yourself at All Times Page 30