A former Nevada State Athletic Commission Medical Advisory Board Chairman and Chief Ringside Physician, Dr. Margaret Goodman has a private practice as a neurologist in Las Vegas, Nevada, but worked more than 400 professional bouts as a ringside physician.
Goodman spoke to FanHouse concerning her take on the ongoing Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao drug-testing controversy as well as her view on the frequency of use and the potential effects of performance enhancing drugs in boxing and other sports.
FanHouse: Do you believe that it would be feasible or too costly for random blood-testing to be implemented by the Nevada State Athletic Commission?
Margaret Goodman: This is what I will tell you about MRI testing. When we wanted to do MRI testing, one of the main arguments in order to get us to not do it was the cost. What was going to be the cost.
I believe that if the athletic commission were to approach the World Anti-Doping Agency, or, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, I’m sure that there is a way that the cost could be reduced, or there could be some kind of arrangement made even with the local laboratories.
Do this under a research project, get funding. This is not that complicated. When we did MRI studies, the MRI studies were $1,500 a piece, and we got the price down to $425. That’s still a lot of money to a kid who is earning $100 a round. But the point is that with this drug-testing, I’m sure there’s ways to negotiate it so that it wouldn’t be nearly as costly.
You don’t want to just work with yourself, you want to work outside of yourself with other experts. As much expertise as the Nevada Commission’s Medical Advisory Board has, they’re not experts in drug-testing.
I’m sure that the USADA would love to invite them to come and participate in a symposium and to help the Nevada Commission to re-design their drug-testing protocol and programs.
But if I would be a part of the commission at this time, it would be an unreasonable request for the commission to do unless this as something contractually done by the two fighters [Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.] Neither fighter has ever tested positive for anything before.
So there’s reason no reason to pick this particular fight unless the fighters’ camps want it done, and then, the commission should help them to facilitate it — which I’m sure that the commission would do.
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