In almost every field, the glory of sports has been tainted with drug and steroid scandals; The boxing world was not spared from these scandals. Steroid abuse can play a very dangerous role especially in the sport of boxing where performance enhancing drugs have the ability to strengthen and increase the speed of a boxer’s punch to superhuman levels to the point of becoming lethal. Under steroids, a boxer’s fist is a lethal weapon. That is why, for boxers, a steroid scandal can ruin a career. Compounded by public perception that steroid-use is cheating done only by bad guys—as made infamous in the Rocky Movie Series starring Sylvester Stallone, a steroid scandal can mean the end of a boxer’s career.

One of the most phenomenal lightweight boxers in history, Sugar Shane Mosely, has had his career jeopardized when his name was tied to the recent Balco investigations. At the height of his career, Shane Mosley seemed to have grown bigger overnight and turned from a mild-mannered person to a swearing, aggressive person, as recounted by Mosley’s 23-year chiropractor, Dr. George Del Junco. Maybe it was the pressure of the boxing world that pushed Mosley to the other side. It could have ruined him forever. Fortunately for Mosley, he was given another chance to prove himself again.

In the past weekend, 38-year-old Sugar Shane Mosely fought against Antonio Margarito (who was pegged to finish off Mosley’s career) completely drug-free, showing the world that he was still the first-class fighter he once was. After the BALCO scandal, Mosley has been written off competitions and his titles and awards were revoked. He was painted by the media as a notorious steroid user, and since then, has been fighting to claim back the name and fame that he had lost. This time, Mosley came in clean going all the way to win the World Welterweight Champion. Undoubtedly, this was the most important fight of his career yet.

For the last decade, Mosley has been accused and called names, tarnishing his reputation. But this game may just as well bring him back to the glory days that have gone. Ironically, it was Antonio Margarito who was caught cheating in the recent fight. The referee discovered that Margarito’s gloves were lined with plaster cast before the start of the fight and was thus forced to change gloves. In this particular game, the audience could say that Margarito was the bad guy and Mosley the good guy.

Unlike in movies such as Rocky, the good guys aren’t always good and the bad guys aren’t always bad. Bad guys are still given a second chance to redeem themselves while good guys have the possibility of ruining their careers in the future. Like Shane Mosley who went down the road of steroid abuse, fighters can still regain what they have lost during their moment of weakness. Inherently a good fighter, Mosley was lured into a false promise that steroids seemed to offer. In the end, what saved him was cleaning up and fighting his best drug-free.

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