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David Benavidez says David Morrell has been complaining about drug testing for his February 1 fight and believes he doesn’t want to be tested by VADA.
Interim WBA light heavyweight champion Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is suspicious and says WBA ‘regular’ champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) may be worried that “something may arise” in one of his tests.
Benavidez plays the PED card
Some fans see Benavidez’s complaints as a way to lay the groundwork for a PED excuse in advance to blame a possible loss on Morrell for possible steroid use.
Just by Benaivdez mentioning steroids during the buildup, people will view a Morrell victory with suspicion. Morrell wouldn’t even have to test positive for PEDs for people to believe he was using them due to the association of steroids with his name during prep.
Benavidez would receive less criticism from fans, and his stock wouldn’t fall as much if they believed Morrell was dirty. It wouldn’t matter if Morrell never tested positive for a steroid. Benavidez’s mention of this during interviews would cause people to believe Morrell was using PEDS and taint his victory.
“When he fought, look at the people he fought with. “They said they did VADA and they didn’t force David Morrell to do VADA,” David Benavidez told MillCity Boxing. “There were two different fighters who did that.
“He tried to do the same shit to me because we were 13 weeks into the game. When I fought Caleb Plant, we had started testing 14 weeks later. Boo Boo Andrade at 14 weeks. How come this guy (Morrell) is coming into the biggest fight in his history, and he doesn’t have to go through VADA, and he’s already being accused of steroid use?
“I’m not saying he’s on steroids or anything, but once you don’t try to do the VADA test, shit seems a little weird. Plus, he says he’s a lab rat because they’re testing him. This is what it is. This is clean boxing. We do VADA every week or every two weeks.
It would be better if Benavidez didn’t talk about PEDs before the fight because it seems like he’s already planning an excuse if things don’t go his way in the fight with Morrell.
“If you don’t like it, you’re probably doing something or you’re probably a little worried that something might come up in these VADA tests,” Benavidez said. I have had more tests done than anyone else at VADA, and those are facts. I was tested over 30 times and never complained. I never said I was a lab rat.
“This guy (Morrell) only got tested three times and says he’s a lab rat. Go watch the fights and watch the people who accuse him. I was never accused of taking steroids. Then when you watch the press conference, as soon as I said, ‘Steroids, you guys didn’t want to try,’ that’s when Luis DeCubas got up and started talking shit. Then they walked away.
“So, I don’t know. You be the judge of that. I’m pointing things out, but you guys aren’t going to play with me like I’m an idiot. If there are VADA tests, then let’s do it and be clean boxing,” Benavidez said.
