Lamont Peterson appeared on "NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt" on WJLA in Washington, DC, on Thursday, to discuss his canceled May 19 rematch with Amir Khan. Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone in March.
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What is going on? What has happened? Why is the fight off?
"Well, going all the way back to November -- I have a doctor in Vegas, you know, pretty much wanted to make sure I'm healthy before I go into the ring, entering the fight December 10. We did lab work, blood work, all type of tests to make sure I'm healthy. One of the tests came back and it showed that I wasn't doing as good as I thought I was. Testosterone levels were very, very low. It was at, like, a 7.2 or something like that, when someone my age should be in the 20s, all the way to the 40s. So we did a procedure where he inserted pellets in my hip. It was all-natural, soy-based stuff. It's nothing that's going to have me like Hercules or anything like that. Just was to balance my levels to normal status. That's it. So we did the fight, we did a drug test before the fight, after the fight, I passed it.
"So we're doing the rematch now. Me, I believe there's a lot of people in boxing that's doing PEDs. Taking drugs to enhance their performance. There's different programs out there that you can use. Instead of just doing urine test like we always do, you can do blood and urine tests, and this is random testing throughout your training camp. I was all for that, I asked for that for the fight, just trying to show other champions and other top fighters to do the same thing. And for, you know, to clean the sport up, because to be honest, there are people out there cheating. I'm asking for these things. Actually paying money to do this. It's not nothin' that is cheap.
"So we end up doing the first test. Weeks later, it shows up that my test is positive for a substance."
Do you feel you're being penalized because of a legitimate medical procedure, that had nothing to do with trying to game the system?
"Right. Then they're adding stuff on and saying it's a steroid and things like that. It's not a steroid."
Is an appeal possible?
"Yes, there could be an appeal. There will be. At the end of the day I believe the truth will be put out there. Really, my name can be saved. Right now there's all types of people saying different things about me. The fight is off, of course I'm disappointed. There's a lot of people that are disappointed about the situation."
Lamont, skeptics are going to hear this and say, you know what, when this happens, people always say they didn't mean to do it. What do you say to those folks?
"Anybody who knows me knows I'm not gonna cheat anything. All I ask people is, you heard their side of the story, you heard my side of the story. Just allow me and my team the time to prove our innocence. Don't just judge me and say oh, I knew he cheated, or he's a cheater. At the end of the day we're going to get to the bottom of it. I assure you there was no cheating going on. I didn't cheat. There was no steroids, no performance -- no PED type of thing going on. I didn't take any type of drug to win the fight. And I was not going to take another type of drug to fight Amir this time. I think eventually, with time, we'll show that. We did all type of tests, went to all type of labs and doctors, since we found out I had this dirty urine. Every test I took after that, I passed it. The fight, the test after the fight, I passed it. I just don't understand how or why this is. But to be honest, I feel that something's going on. We're going to get to the bottom of it."
Could this have implications beyond the fight? Is there a chance for a rematch? And are you worried about damage to your name or damage beyond the moment?
"Yes. I'm not too concerned about a rematch or even boxing right now. Right now it's about my name. Letting people know that I'm not a cheater, and really, about my health. At this point I'm trying to figure out why my testosterone level or any other levels -- I had more than just that levels are low. I wanna figure out why, and try to figure that out, and deal with that. I'm not even worried about boxing right now."