Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
Rematch looks doomed following steroid find
Victor Ortiz is set to miss out on his second fight with
Andre Berto on June 23rd at The Staples Center in California following his
opponent’s positive drug sample for the banned steroid Nandrolone.
The 25 year-old, who defeated Berto in one of the fights of
2011, is highly unlikely to get another opportunity to face Berto in the near
future as an investigation is launched into how the sample failed the VADA
test.
A replacement for the contest, to be broadcast on Showtime, is
a possibility and will become clear in the coming hours and days, but Berto
will almost certainly play no part in next months scheduled bout.
Berto, 28, faces a painstaking process to clear his name as
is the seriousness of the steroid in question and it may be months before the
former two-time welterweight champion gets back in the ring to fight again.
Compatriot Lamont Peterson faces a similar fate following a
positive test for testosterone, although the WBA and IBF light-welterweight
champion is set to re-apply for his boxing license at a Nevada hearing next
month.
Both fighters’ face an uphill struggle to restore
their damaged reputations as a positive test in your career seems to stick with you
until the end and I only hope that it proves that both men are innocent of any
wrongdoing for the sake of the sport.