NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Dr. Margaret Goodman, a neurologist, the former chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and the president and board chairman of VADA, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.

We spoke with her Saturday in New York.

"The best aspect of what VADA has accomplished is education," she said.

"The fans are much more educated. I think the fighters are getting much more educated, and asking more and more questions."

She noted that while the WBC's Clean Boxing Program which works with VADA only mandates that boxers ranked in the top 15 in each weight class by the WBC be drug-tested, more fighters are actually applying to be tested.

"What people don't know is there's probably at least well over 100 fighters that have volunteered that are not rated by the WBC, have volunteered to that program, and many of them have been tested by VADA, and this is throughout the year."

In order to clarify just what VADA does and does not do, she explained that VADA carries out the drug testing, but has no role in adjudicating the test results, such as determining if there are or what suspensions fighters receive, etc.

We also discussed the need for standardization of drug testing, how anti-doping programs have become more and more accepted over the years, the issue of weight-cutting, the problems with supplements, and much, much more.

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Labels: boxing, doping, Eddie Goldman, Margaret Goodman, No Holds Barred, VADA, Voluntary Anti-Doping Association