The Nandrolone Mystery and Other Tales from Boxing’s Drug War Front
Originally posted to Maxboxing.com on May 23, 2012
By Gabriel Montoya
On Monday, informed sources revealed to Maxboxing the analysis of Andre Berto’s positive test results for 19-Norandrosterone, a metabolic byproduct of Nandrolone, a highly potent, outdated and banned substance. Berto had a concentration of 20 ng/ml (nanograms to milliliters or parts per trillion). The allowable limit is 2 ng. And still, that 20 ng is so minuscule, the report determined that what Berto had in his system was “consistent with contamination, not intent.”
Translation? Think of a grain of salt. Now smash that grain of salt. Take those particles and smash them too. Maybe try it one more time. What is left is microscopic; that’s what was in Berto’s urine as a byproduct of Nandrolone. And while it is not a large enough amount to affect any sort of performance enhancement, it’s potent enough to trigger a positive test for anywhere from six to 18 months.
Why did Andre Berto have a metabolite of Nandrolone in his system? Nutrition expert and anti-doping activist Victor Conte, who had worked closely with Berto last summer for his September 3rdwelterweight title fight against Jan Zaveck, opined immediately on his Twitter account that Berto likely suffered some sort of contamination from a supplement or food such as liver. A paper written by Professor of Physical Chemistry Paul May, BSc, PhD (Bristol), CChem, MRSC at the University of Bristol in October of 2000, called Nandrolone the “Molecule of the Month,” referenced here:
May wrote that a combination of exercise mixed with certain supplements can trigger a positive test. The paper refers to the phenomenon of athletes testing positive for Nandrolone as the “Nandrolone Mystery” and as Andre Berto unfortunately learned, in the 12 years since the problem was first revealed, a solution has yet to be found.
When the news broke about Berto, some boxing fans immediately assumed Conte was to blame. Even though the performance enhancing drug war has been going on for nigh on 30 years, sports fans’ depth of knowledge on the ins and outs of drugs and testing is still in its infancy. Oft-times, the media handles these cases like a kid cramming for a late night test, so the phrase “tested positive for…” gets pinned on an athlete without first exploring the events. In this case, most people saw “Nandrolone” but read “steroids” in their minds. And when they saw Conte clarifying with a statement and tweets regarding Nandrolone contamination, they likely saw tweets and a statement but read, “I am covering my tracks” in their minds.
In reality, Conte wasn’t even a part of Berto’s camp anymore. http://www.boxingscene.com/defining-victor-contes-role-andre-berto-camp--53060
Conte supplied Berto with legal supplements from SNAC (Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning) which, among other products, is famous for ZMA, a zinc magnesium B-6 compound that promotes recovery through sleep enhancement. Conte created this long before BALCO was ever an idea. Beyond that, Berto has admitted he strayed from Conte’s program while training in Winter Haven, Florida, a decision likely resulting in being contaminated by a tainted off-brand supplement.
But beyond his recent timeline resides Conte’s history with Nandrolone.
From the magazine Muscular Development in January 2001:
http://www.snac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/the-nandrolone-defense.pdf
12 years ago, in one of the most famous of all Nandrolone contamination cases, it was Conte who brought to light the idea that maybe 500-plus cases of Nandrolone positive tests might have to do with contamination instead of the worst-case scenario: an outbreak of mad Nandrolone junkies. Likely, Conte thought it was equipment used to make a product containing Nandrolone that contaminated a nearby product that was causing the problem. Conte went so far as to track down one of the machines that made Olympic shot-putter C.J. Hunter’s supplements and learned the machine next to it was contaminated.
In the article, Conte discussed that three of Hunter’s products were contaminated with Nandrolone. In 2002,the IOC did a study of close to 650 nutrition products and a significant number were to found to contain traces of Nandrolone. An overview of the 2002 study is here:
*https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=Xm#inbox/137780a09ca2db7f
The point is, before we all rush to judgment on a man’s past, one he has been more than open about, research would be best, first. However, the bigger lesson and the through line of Peterson and Berto’s cases is that an athlete- any athlete- must know what he is taking. Both VADA and USADA offer to test any supplement that their contracted athletes want tested.
When your body is your business, shouldn’t you know what is going into it?
UFC to Do Its Own Testing?
The L.A. Times’ Lance Pugmire quoted the UFC’s Dana White yesterday, regarding the recent rash of positive tests and canceled fights lately, both in boxing and MMA.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dana-white-ufc-qa-20120522,0,2715666.story
“The steroid, [performance-enhancing drug] thing affects the whole sport,” said White. “The key is to make sure these guys never get on it because once they do, they change. The problem with [Alistair] Overeem is that I want to sit in a room with him, man-to-man, and believe him. He told me before he ever fought for us, ‘Don't worry; I'm the most tested athlete in sports,’ but I think we have about 42 fights a year…you have a guy or two popping [positive tests] here and there, that's a pretty good ratio.”
*White is right. Every time a fighter gets caught with a banned substance, it’s great for sports. However, considering the loopholes in current non-VADA or USADA
“Do you want to increase testing?” asked Pugmire.
“Yes. We're going to do our own testing, order these guys into [a lab]; we're sorting it out now,” answered White. “You have to do this to save the sport. You can't have these guys fighting on this stuff.”
Here is the problem with that. As with Mayweather Testing, run by USADA, a single company running its own lab, lock, stock and barrel, is not a good idea. “Transparency,” that word we have heard all week, is an important aspect of testing. For the public to have trust with a company doing testing, what tests are being performed and how positive tests are handled are key elements that should be known. Testing should be done by an independent entity, not a league policing itself. As much as I applaud Mr. White’s candor and effort to make his sport clean, in the world of anti-doping, no league owner should be policing his own athletes. It’s like having inmates double as guards.
Right now, like it or not, VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, is incredibly important. For the first time in a long time, an independent organization has stepped in to offer to clean up boxing and the fighters in that sport have responded. We should be applauding them and looking for ways to help them. Instead…
“Winky Wright and Peter Quillin opt for USADA Testing…
On Tuesday, I was told that Winky Wright has requested to be part of the testing wave that caught Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto. Instead, Wright and Quillin will work with USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) for their fight on June 2 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. With the recent rash of positive tests, Wright and his team felt it was the positive statement to make in a changing sport.
“We requested it to be safe,” Wright’s adviser, Damien Ramirez told Maxboxing.com on Tuesday, “not to point no guns. It’s become a reality show more than it is a competitive sport. At the end of the day, we are not accusing anybody or accusing Quillin of anything like that. As Floyd said, it is not about accusing people. It’s about having a clean sport. In the Lamont Peterson case, it is what it is. It is something we should have done in the first place. But Winky has the mentality of the last of the dying breed fighters that he will beat you one way or the other. It is better to be safe than…Floyd is sending the sport in the right direction. It is best that the guys like Bernard [Hopkins] and Winky and the new-school fighters get out there and support this. It falls on the fighters first. Floyd has always paid for it and it gets into a place where not everyone can afford to pay for their own testing. It should be something that the promoters pay for it or, at worst, it should be split between the two combatants.”
No word yet on the amount USADA is charging. I am told it is going to be much lower than the previous $100,000 price tag, an interesting development if true. More than likely this is to compete with VADA’s estimated $20,000 per fight price tag. With two positive tests under its belt, VADA is now driving down the prices of drug testing in the sport. It appears they are great for the “better testing in boxing” movement on a couple of fronts.
Tomorrow night will feature more on boxing’s drug war. Since Lamont Peterson tested positive, seemingly every day after that sheds new light on the most important subject in the sport.