"It was said when it first came out that Lamont Peterson admitted to taking anabolic steroids. Lamont never admitted to taking anabolic steroids. Lamont admitted to being treated by a doctor, examined by a doctor and treated by a doctor. That's it and that's all....there was nothing in this man's body that would be consistent with a person that takes anabolic steroids. He didn't even have a trace in him. After the fight had been called off, Lamont was demonized and dragged through the mud without even having a voice. He never even got a chance to tell his story before this thing went viral," stated world-class trainer Barry Hunter, who elaborated on everything that IBF jr. welterweight champion Lamont Peterson had to go through just to tell their side of the story after testing positive prior to his scheduled rematch with Amir Khan.
PC: You dealt with your own ordeal with Lamont and the positive test issue. Erik Morales was allowed to fight in New York after two failed tests. What are your thoughts on the things that transpired during your situation and in Morales' case?
BH: I really don't know the details of the Morales story. Lamont, leading up to this fight, passed all of his tests except for the one test producing a positive result. Once the sample came back with a positive reading, we wanted to know what the hell was going on and what was found in the urine. Nobody knew what it was. We were told to check out some creams and gels because whatever it was could possibly be in some creams and gels. So of course we tore the house up trying to find out what it could possibly be. This was a first time for us. We requested to have the other sample tested, and of course this is the same urine, just put into a different cup. So if one is positive, more than likely, the other one should be the same. After that came back positive, we started checking his medical history and making phone calls. The doctor that actually treated Lamont said, "No." He said it couldn't be, but nevertheless, he would speak to whoever he needed to speak to and try to clear it up. He said what he treated Lamont with was an organic hormone not intended to increase his athletic performance, but to raise his testosterone levels to a normal person his age. This was after the first test. He took two random tests two weeks after that. Is that correct, Dre?
[Andre Johnson, Publicist]
AJ: He took two random tests after that, which he tested negative.
BH: In the end, we took about 7 tests and one came back positive. In response to that positive, we had several specialists examine Lamont and all concluded that there was no evidence of any steroid use or any performing enhancing substances in his system.
PC: Some reported that Lamont admitted taking steroids.
BH: It was said when it first came out that Lamont Peterson admitted to taking anabolic steroids. Lamont never admitted to taking anabolic steroids. Lamont admitted to being treated by a doctor, examined by a doctor and treated by a doctor. That's it and that's all. Lamont is not a doctor, so Lamont really can't tell you exactly what it is that the doc gave him. The doctor told him, but he doesn't know the breakdown and genetics to this thing. He is not a doctor. Once we found out that something was wrong with him, we immediately reacted to it. We took him to a specialist and he went under a number of testing. He went under a number of tests; they checked his pituitary gland, his gonads, his liver, his skin. They went through this man. I felt bad for him considering all of the things he had to go through, and these weren't doctors, these were specialist in their field. They all came back with the same letter and they had no affiliation to one another, but had the same findings. That there was nothing in this man's body that would be consistent with a person that takes anabolic steroids. He didn't even have a trace in him. After the fight had been called off, Lamont was demonized and dragged through the mud without even having a voice. He never even got a chance to tell his story before this thing went viral.
PC: And you guys weren't finished yet, right?
BH: We went on and did some more investigating because we needed to know also. I would've bet my life that he didn't do nothing wrong, but that wasn't good enough. That could have been me from a standpoint of being a parent and dealing with a kid that I love like my own. So I had to know. I needed facts. We needed facts. Lamont went and saw at least 3 different endocrinologists, highly accredited with integrity intact and had no affiliation with the other, and they all came back with the same findings; every last one of them. Once we gathered all of our evidence and our findings, we gave it to the IBF and to the DC Boxing Commission. Through one of our attorneys, they kept the information together between us and Nevada. Once we did that, the IBF did their own investigation through all of our findings. They didn't just take our word and they brought their own endocrinologists in, and again, came back with basically the same findings as the rest of the doctors. So how can you discredit all of this evidence and not even look at it?
[Andre Johnson]
AD: We knew that this first test was going to take place that day and as a result would not be considered random. Still, we didn't have a problem with it because this was something that Lamont wanted to do. I was there with him and when he tried to give a sample, he was unable to do so because he was dehydrated. He couldn't give blood and he couldn't give urine and they told him, "Look, why don't we do this another time with you because it's obvious you tried and you are unable to provide a sufficient sample for testing. We poked you to get a sample from you and you aren't able to do it. We are okay with that because we tried several times." Lamont, in turn, looked at me and said, "Look, maybe if I eat something and I drink something, then maybe I can do it." He asked them if they would be willing to let him participate in the press conference and then come back and take the test. They said they had to call back to the office and get permission to do that. They did that and Lamont came back 2 to 3 hours later and took the test. If you are going through all of this trouble to cheat, you had an out right there. The point I want to make is that this man has never cheated at anything in his life and has no desire at all to do so now. Furthermore, when he fights next, he intends to participate in Olympic style random drug testing again and it is his wish to help clean up the sport of boxing.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]