QUEBEC | After Wednesday's snowstorm, we were treated to a storm in a glass of water on Thursday on the sidelines of a press event promoting the unification fight between Artur Beterbiev and Callum Smith.
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In response to a question in the press crowd, British promoter Eddie Hearn casually replied about a worrying result regarding a doping test on Artur Beterbiev.
The pugilist of Russian origin actually underwent a test by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) on December 6, which revealed unusually high levels of growth hormones and testosterone, two substances produced by the body.
“This is an atypical result, but not unfavorable. As a promoter of the boxer in the other corner, it worries me,” Hearn said in an impassioned outburst.
Negative tests
It was boxing journalist Kevin Iole who brought the matter to light on Wednesday. What Hearn doesn't say, but Iole's article makes clear, is that four more tests were subsequently carried out, all of which came back negative.
Under VADA supervision, Beterbiev underwent tests on December 15 and 21 and blood tests on December 21 and January 3.
“I’m glad the information was released on Wednesday because we’ve known about it since mid-December,” Hearn said.
“It was difficult to make the information public because people would have blamed Artur. It's normal for us to ask questions and that's exactly what Callum's lawyer is doing. It was not up to us to release the information because we were not the ones who ordered the test and it was not our fighter,” defended Hearn.
strategy
For the organizer of the event, Camille Estephan, it is above all a strategic gesture from her English counterpart.
“After receiving the result, we contacted VADA and they explained to us that further testing needed to be carried out as the result was inconclusive.
“I think the plan is to create a small storm in a glass of water. They want to give their fighter every advantage possible, it's a game. The guy is negative, he didn’t do anything wrong,” emphasized the head of Eye of the Tiger Management.
It should also be noted that Beterbiev is not part of the EOTTM team.
Camille Estephan Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
No consequences
With his confidence as a very talented salesman, Eddie Hearn assured that the situation would have no impact on the staging of the gala on Saturday.
“It will not affect the fight because from a contractual point of view there is nothing we can do as it is not an unfavorable result.
“For me it should be white or black. Either the test is absolutely perfect or it is positive. That’s what I don’t like about this situation.”
Hearn regrets that little attention has been paid to this result, while his athletes have had a different story.
“There have been times where we have had positive tests and when it comes to our boxers we have a lot of questions to answer. I didn’t see that in this case.”
Understand
If Eddie Hearn threw this unexpected stone into the pond, it was because he wanted to understand it, he assures us.
“We have not received a satisfactory answer despite the other tests carried out. Artur Beterbiev didn't fail the test, but he had high levels of these substances and we want to know why. We were told it can happen naturally.”
The organizer poses as a good knight of truth who does not want to tarnish the name of the Canadian-Russian boxer.
“We don’t want to point the finger at Artur Beterbiev, we just want to understand how the tests work and how one test shows high values and the following tests show nothing.”