Hall of Fame fighter Evander Holyfield has called for stronger penalties on drug cheats in boxing and has proposed one idea in particular to stamp them out once and for ll.
Drug testing in boxing has been very much in the news over the last six to twelve months or so, after a number of high-profile failed tests from some of the premier professional fighters in the sport.
Obviously all pro sports have cheaters in them, sadly, as when money is involved, there will always be those looking to breach the rules in a bid to get ahead.
However in a sport like boxing where the consequences of these actions can be so much more brutal, many have called for harsher penalties to deter offenders.
Evander Holyfield this week called for 30 day jail sentences to be handed out to boxers caught toking performance enhancing substances.
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder echoed his sentiments in an interview with SirusXM radio:
“They should go to jail. Anybody that’s cheating in boxing, they should just go to jail. That’ll cut it out. As long as we have money involved, when we have the politics and all that involved, nothing’s gonna be done about it.”
Wilder knows all too well about the issue in the sport having had an opponent test positive last yer which cost him nearly six months out of his career due to the bout not going ahead.
Wilder recently defeated Cuban Luis Ortiz by 10th round stoppage in New York.