Former IBF flyweight titleholder Sonny Edwards isn’t sure drug testing in boxing works. And I believe the only way to create a level playing field is to let athletes do whatever they choose.
Edwards, who has been tested by VADA and submitted to UK Anti-Doping Tests throughout the year, is 21-1 (4 KOs) and he will return on November 30 in the clash. All of England that everyone is looking forward to with Galal, 2020 Olympic gold medalist, Yafai.
Edwards, 28, has been vocal about those who have been caught doping in the past. And ahead of his fight at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England, he told BoxingScene, “This is a sensitive topic for me. Just because I, Sonny Edwards, I was tested so hard. I guess I’m one of about 30 top athletes (fighters) who were in one of the 365 tests that basically in the last three years I had to register the bed that I Where am I going to sleep? And where will I be for one hour each day? It’s like I’m a boxing AI computer, and that’s what interests me in boxing.
“For me it is very urgent. When there is a boxer like Thewin Farmer said, ‘Look, no one’s checking.’ Why do I have to open an app on my phone and make sure every bed I sleep on? I leave someone behind. The computer knows where it is, 365 days a year, in competition or not. In the past three years?
“And the same. I am registered with VADA so there will be several weeks where I will be tested by various regulatory agencies,” Edwards continued. “That inconsistency for me is the real problem. Wouldn’t it be nice to think that we live in a world where no matter what these test agents look like? They will be completely impartial, impartial and completely fair at every step. And it will be like this But at the same time We are dealing with people. So are we going to live with a 100 percent guarantee that it actually happened? I don’t know. For me, I think that if something happened We make sports less safe by placing limits on what humans can experience on this planet in order to benefit us in helping us prepare or repair our brain or muscle tissue. Or help us with tendons Damaged or from swelling of the brain
“A lot of these things have a lot of benefits. And that’s why cheaters take it. But at the same time I won’t do anything I shouldn’t do. I live my life naked (as a small fighter) compared to others All of trying to ignore the gray areas or escape from things. Totally because of how well they do it. Because there must definitely be scientists who are good at this. There are too many stories to say it won’t happen.”
However, Edwards never saw this happen. And he felt that this was mostly due to his straightforward demeanor. If someone was under anesthesia and saw Edwards He thought they would stop doing or talking about it as soon as they knew he was around. But Edwards remains confident that the most unsafe terrain in this perilous environment is where “Juicer Man” Meets Clean Athletes
“People like me would never be brought into a conversation where they would know if someone did it or not. I’ll tell you that. Because I’ve never seen it directly. Meanwhile Outspoken people like me who had been ranting for the previous half hour about these things. I will never be the one to know this conversation. There were no coaches in the gym I walked into. No boxer would trust me. I know it will never be a conversation. So for me It’s like it never happened because I made it public. If I wasn’t like that I might have a better understanding of how many people do this.
“What we do But, you know, we’re dealing with people who are doing one of the hardest things in the world: getting in the ring and fighting in front of everyone they know. Everyone you’ve ever met And everyone you might meet in the future. An insecure human being, it’s okay in 2024 to be insecure sometimes and about other people cheating. And there are all these stories about other people being unfaithful. And you watch documentaries like Icarus that tell you how easy it is. and all you This must be done at a certain time of the night. And when the tester comes to pick you up in the morning Its half-life is already lower than the legal limit. …It’s complicated, but it’s so simple that we really can’t get a good handle on it, right? We’re going to catch the trash. despicable people Those who got stabbed and didn’t think they would do that. They are the only ones you can catch.”
Edwards explains: “If something happens I think that makes everything more unsafe. And would probably be satisfied with an environment where people do whatever they want.”
“I think too many people are clearly avoiding it. I mean there can be different angles. Of this world that uses things that other parts of the world don’t even know exist, for example, what are the chances that this isn’t the case? Chances are that these crazy supplements or things people are taking. And after a few years They also become something they consider and forbid. And for many years (After that) people ate it.
“What are we doing here? We are creating like a show. Then there is the advice given to the person who created the list of what should and shouldn’t be. And when they do that, they might be like, ‘Oh, that’s OK. I’m going to put a little bit of gray in it. There are two or three that they can slip through and it won’t work at all.’ We’re dealing with people doing things for people at every level of this pyramid that we’re in. I don’t know. I just feel like the place The most unsafe place in a boxing ring is if one person enters it. and fled with something inside Their system that they shouldn’t do and the other side shouldn’t do. That is the most insecure thing. And I don’t think we’ll obviously[catch]100 percent of the cheaters to warrant that.
“Wouldn’t you agree that saying ‘OK, everyone’s welcome’ is a level playing field? Or to a greater extent saying ‘Okay, there’s this test’, some people follow it. But people who are smart and don’t get caught, look, we have a more level playing field than we would have if we just said ‘OK, look, in your 8’ -10 weeks before the fight. whatever you eat Whatever dietary supplement, protein, whatever, it may have some benefits (effects), it may have some disadvantages. But that’s for you to find out.’”
Edward sounded conflicted. Just as he was unsure of his position. While it is still not entirely certain that the boxing situation has anything to do with the ordeal. And how much promoters and regulators have done is not accurate.
“This is always the answer when I think about it,” he concludes, “because that’s the most unsafe place. If one person is bitten until his gums are broken and the other person is not. So how do you argue? Clean fighters and dirty fighters are the most unsafe boxing rings you will ever see. And you can create it by having things that some people might Know how to jump through.”
