Steroid Use Not Like Vargas
Los Angeles Daily News - January 9, 2003
It's hard to believe Fernando Vargas would knowingly take steroids, an assumption many will make after he tested positive for stanozolol.
For one thing, he seems to be too proud. He couldn't have believed for a second he needed the help of drugs to beat bitter rival Oscar De La Hoya on Sept. 14. He was certain he was the better fighter going in, even if few others agreed with him.
And, while his behavior and choice of words are sometimes objectionable, he's always struck me as an honest guy. I could see him saying in his macho manner, "Only a coward cheats."
Rolando Arellano, his co-manager, called Vargas in Hawaii to tell him the bad news. At first, Arellano said, Vargas thought he was joking.
"He said, 'Steroids my (behind).' I said, 'No, man.' He said, 'I'm not stupid. I know they do testing. I was in the Olympics, they do testing all the time. I know they've randomly tested in Nevada. 'I'm not (expletive) stupid.' And I have to side with him."
So do I, at least to the extent that Vargas isn't stupid. He fully understands he's a valuable commodity without drugs - he'll make $10 million-plus for the De La Hoya fight - and would have to be extremely stupid to jeopardize that.
And those close to Vargas bring up an interesting point. He was taken to a hospital - out of the control of Nevada Athletic Commission officials - after he was knocked out in the 11th round.
If he knew steroids were in his system, why did he choose to stop at a clinic after he left the hospital to provide a urine sample? Why didn't he forsake the $25,000 the commission withholds and go home? Or why didn't he have someone else provide the sample?
One answer is he didn't know, that either a second test will come back clean or he took the steroids thinking they were nutritional supplements.
The supplement theory is plausible. Arellano said Vargas took about 15 pills every day. Someone could've slipped in a steroid or two - knowingly or not - without Vargas' knowledge.
Vargas, believed to be the first boxer to test positive for steroids in the United States, presumably wouldn't know a steroid from a vitamin without some research. Someone could say, "Here, take these," and I could see Vargas doing so without thinking.
That the stanozolol - the steroid for which sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive and lost his 100-meter gold medal in the 1988 Olympics - might've been in a supplement and accidentally given to Vargas seems less plausible.
Several medical officials suggested it can be acquired only by prescription or illegal means, although they agree anything is possible.
That raises the question: Who might've given Vargas the steroids?
Vargas acknowledged in a two-page letter to commission director Marc Ratner he trusted the "professionals" in his training camp to provide guidance on supplements, referring to physical trainer John Philbin and nutritionist Maz Ali.
Arellano said Philbin selected the supplements, a scenario that would seem to put Philbin in an awkward position.
However, I don't believe he would either knowingly or unknowingly provide Vargas with steroids. Philbin, who worked for the Washington Redskins, always struck me as a pro, a bright guy who knows his stuff and is passionate about it.
And, clearly, he values his reputation. To betray Vargas in such a way would seem to be too far out of character for him.
Ali? He vehemently denied providing steroids, saying he had nothing to do with Vargas' supplements. His job, he said, was to prescribe a diet that would produce the most-efficient fighting machine possible.
Philbin, who left the Vargas camp because of differences with Ali, disputed Ali's comments. He told maxboxing.com Ali also gave Vargas supplements, which Philbin couldn't identify.
And the fact Ali is known as a body-building trainer puts him in an awkward position.
In the end, this could all come back to Vargas, whose chiseled body the night of the fight has become particularly interesting.
Maybe the pressure of the biggest fight of his life got to him and he wanted an edge. Maybe someone convinced him he couldn't get caught. Maybe he made a mistake.
It's just so hard to believe. Of course, someone probably found it hard to believe Ben Johnson would take steroids.
