Freddie Roach believes Peterson’s and Berto’s drug test reports are disappointing – Boxing News
Freddie Roach, trainer for Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao, is disappointed over Lamont Peterson’s and Andre Berto’s failed drug tests. Roach believes that both the fights were important and their being cancelled on the basis of failed drug tests is disappointing.
In his recent interview, the Hall of Famer boxer said, “It’s very disappointing, of course. But Lamont Peterson and (trainer) Barry Hunter, they seem like really good guys. I really like those guys. Was there a mistake made? Was it done on purpose? I don’t
want to accuse anyone or stuff like that, but it’s bad for the sport that this is happening. And you have the Berto fight also. It’s just bad for the sport. I think the fighters need to pay more attention to what they’r etaking, because there’s a lot of stuff
out there that you can buy over the counter that have traces of steroids in them and will show up on a drug test.”
The fight between Roach’s fighter Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson was scheduled for May 19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. However, earlier in May, just ten days away from the fight, Peterson’s positive drug test reports came up due to which the match
was cancelled. Similarly, just weeks later the rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto was cancelled for the same reason.
Not only Roach, several other trainers and fighters have expressed their dismay over the issue. Amir Khan, who was eager to fight Peterson to regain his titles, called Peterson a ‘cheat’ and appealed with the IBF to call their December bout a ‘No Contest’,
and the titles should be returned to him. Khan also said that during the bout he had punched Peterson hard, but he was surprised to see the American fighter regain control. According to Khan, it was the best he could give yet Peterson recovered fast, which
gave him the impression that Peterson was juiced up.
For now, Khan has been rescheduled to fight Danny Garcia on July 14. The venue for the bout has not yet been decided but will soon be.
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