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California State Athletic Commission is under no legal obligation to honor third-party drug testing
By Zach Arnold | April 29, 2016
The last two days have been a real test of Executive Officer Andy Foster:
- Boxer Francisco Vargas, booked to fight Orlando Salido on June 4th at StubHub Center, tested positive for clenbuterol
- The drug test was administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency
- The two boxers paid for VADA drug testing, not California’s athletic commission or Golden Boy
- Golden Boy quickly went into damage-control mode for Vargas, using the “home cooking” defense
- 24-hours after news of the VADA test failure went public, California granted Francisco Vargas a temporary license dependent on a modified drug testing program
The differences between enforcement of UFC & USADA drug testing versus independent VADA testing are substantial. Athletic commissions do not have to honor third-party drug testing results. California will honor only their drug testing results. UFC made a choice to honor USADA results since they are paying the bill for it. If UFC wanted to stop honoring USADA results at any time, that’s their prerogative. To their credit, they have hung tough and enforced drug testing failures. VADA, on the other hand, is paid for by fighters. In addition to state athletic commissions, promoters also can ignore such drug testing results and not lift a finger. Golden Boy clearly fell into this camp with Francisco Vargas.
I don’t like this situation but I can’t say anything negative about what California is up to right now. The failed VADA test makes Francisco Vargas look like a schmuck.
Francisco Vargas is currently working with trainer Rodrigo Mosquera. Mosquera was suspended in late 2013 for manipulated boxing gloves but managed to work a December 2013 event. Mosquera then went to work a New York fight in January of 2014 while on temporary California suspension. Mosquera was scolded by a California athletic inspector for trying to give a boxer advice from the crowd of a show in Montebello. Mosquera was granted a new license shortly thereafter. Mosquera will be working with Vargas for his June 4th fight against Orlando Salido.
Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
[…] we last checked in with a boxing doping scandal, VADA produced a positive test result of clenbuterol for Francisco Vargas. The California State Athletic Commission did not suspend Vargas since they […]