Tony tests positive for Nandrolone
Toney camp does not plan to appeal decision
Without throwing a punch, John Ruiz once again claimed a heavyweight championship when James Toney was stripped by the WBA for a positive drug test.
Toney won a unanimous decision against Ruiz to win the WBA title on April 30 at Madison Square Garden. However, Toney's post-fight drug test turned up positive for the banned steroid Nandrolone.
The New York State Athletic Commission suspended Toney for 90 days, fined him the maximum $10,000, and overturned the result of the fight from a Toney victory to a no decision.
Ruiz attorney Tony Cardinale told ESPN.com on Tuesday that he was copied on a letter that the WBA faxed to Toney's camp to notify them of the decision.
Toney
RuizThe letter, in part, read, "Based on the actions of the New York State Athletic Commission and the test results on which the commission relied, the WBA must vacate your championship ranking and reinstate John Ruiz as the champion."
"The bottom line is that the WBA followed its rules," said Cardinale, who added that the Ruiz camp supports the implementation of random steroid testing in boxing.
Ruiz released a statement, saying only, "To all of the [expletive deleted] who want me out of the game, I'm back."
Under the WBA's explicit rules "If the challenger wins the championship fight and his antidrug test is positive, and the losing champion has a negative result, then the champion shall retain his title in spite of the loss, and the challenger shall be disqualified and shall not box for the title from the World Boxing Association during the next two years, and only after presentation of medical evidence that he has been rehabilitated."
The Toney camp – which maintains that the positive test result was due to medication prescribed to Toney while he was recovering from a severe left biceps and triceps injury suffered during a fight last fall – was not surprised by the news.
"It comes as no great shock or surprise. It is what it is," Toney co-promoter Dan Goossen said. "No matter what they've got around their waist, it doesn't change what James Toney is. He's a bad ass and he will go out there and continue to perform."
Toney, 36, could appeal to the New York commission within 30 days of the suspension, but Goossen said they had no plans to do so because it wouldn't change anything.
"We admit for his recovery period he was taking medication that metabolized into the positive drug test," Goossen said. "We've also stated that without any question that James Toney, once he was healed, did not take any performance-enhancing substances. We've already stated our case. The question is what would we accomplish [by appealing] unless New York had the ability to change [the outcome] based on the circumstances of this prescribed medication being something solely for his recovery from a career threatening injury? If they can't separate the two things then what are we doing? What are we appealing?"
Cardinale said that Ruiz, 33, wanted to continue on the same path he was on before facing Toney.
"What we want to do is get him back in and fight another one of the champions," Cardinale said. "We would like him to fight Vitali Klitschko, Chris Byrd or the winner of Lamon Brewster-Andrew Golota [on Saturday night]."
This is the second heavyweight title fight result to be overturned because of a positive steroid test. In 1995, Francois Botha decisioned Axel Schulz in Germany to win the vacant IBF title. However, Botha tested positive for steroids after the fight, was stripped of the title and the result changed to a no decision.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=2062473
OG
