Commission plans longer suspensions, larger fines for positive drug tests

Nevada is ready to take steps to come down harder on combat sports athletes who are caught cheating.

The Nevada Athletic Commission met for six hours Friday to discuss how to deal with athletes who test positive for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and its solution was simple — bigger fines and longer suspensions.

How big a fine and how long a suspension will be determined soon, perhaps on April 21 when the commission is next scheduled to meet. But more likely, a new policy won’t be implemented until May.

“The situation is pretty clear — it’s out of control,” commissioner Anthony Marnell III said of the increase in failed drug tests. “How do we deal with it? I’m not sure. I have my own thoughts, but that will be debated at another time.

“But one of the things that is most important is that this commission has a bill before the legislature to provide additional funding. They need to listen loud and clear that we have a real problem down here. We have a $480,000 a year budget to run dozens and dozens of tests and chase dozens and dozens of offenders on a daily and hourly basis, and we have four full-time people to do it. Until we get the funding to properly manage things, the commission will basically be ineffective.”

The commission heard from doctors, lawyers and those involved in the testing process. All agreed that Nevada needs to do more. The NAC has been using a six- to eight-week window for its random tests and observes the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances to identify drug cheats.

If a fighter tests positive for steroids, human growth hormone or other performance-enhancing drugs, a suspension is usually nine months to one year and a 30 percent fine of that fighter’s purse. For diuretics and recreational drugs, it’s three months to a year with the same 30 percent maximum fine.

But the commissioners say it’s time to significantly increase the punishment.

“What we have at the moment is not deterring fighters from using drugs,” NAC chairman Francisco Aguilar said. “We need tougher penalties, so if you’re a fighter, you’re going to think twice before you use something illegal to prepare for a fight.”

A tougher policy would involve more testing, in and out of competition. And that costs money. Marnell said promoters can only foot so much of the burden, and that the state needs to become more involved.

“We can come up with all the policies and suspensions we want,” he said. “But we need the resources to be effective. If the legislature doesn’t listen to us now, they’re basically saying, ‘We don’t care about drug abuse.’ I guess you can say I’m technically calling them out.”

■ MAY 2 UNDERCARD — The undercard for the May 2 megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden is starting to take shape.

Super middleweight Jesse Hart (16-0, 13 knockouts) will meet Mike Jimenez (16-0, 10 KOs) in a 10-round bout for the vacant United States Boxing Association title. And Chris Pearson (11-0, nine KOs) will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-round junior middleweight bout. Both fights will be part of the nontelevised portion of the undercard.

■ BKB BONUS — Gabe Rosado, the Big Knockout Boxing middleweight champion, puts his belt on the line Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center against Curtis Stevens in the main event of BKB 2.

If the fight ends in a knockout, the winner will receive a $30,000 bonus. Rosado knocked out Bryan Vera in the inaugural BKB event in August, but there was no bonus.

The card will be available on DirecTV, Dish and cable through In Demand for $29.95.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.