New York judge questioned the attorney of welterweight boxing champion Shane Mosley on why the boxing champ did not want to board a flight with materials he bought from Victor Conte, the BALCO founder, in the summer of 2003. Mosley filed a defamation case against Conte for suggesting that the boxer knew well that the materials were performance-enhancing drugs. He insisted on the other hand that he thought he was just using vitamins.

Meanwhile, Conte’s lawyer described it as an “I’m-an-idiot-defense.” Judge Louis York of the New York State Supreme Court even seemed to agree that it sounded pretty hard to believe. “Why couldn’t he just get vitamins at his local pharmacy?” the judge asked. “Why couldn’t they take them on the plane?” Peter Schalk, one of attorneys who represented Mosley answered that the materials came in a “sizeable package.” Schalk even suggested that his client could not bring the BALCO products on the flight from Oakland to Los Angeles because the plane was small and it was just a “puddle jumper.” “So many people send things by FedEx, I don’t know why this is an issue,” said Schalk.

After the oral arguments, York denied Conte’s motion to have Mosley’s defamation suit dismissed without merit. The ruling follows the parties to conduct discovery and York has reserved the right to review depositions and decide if he wants to dismiss. The judge also said that he did not know if he had jurisdiction. “Before I can decide anything I have to decide if I have jurisdiction,” said York. “There’s a lot of money in this case, and I’m not going to shortchange anyone.”

Meanwhile, Mosley’s legal fights will now move forward and his attorney promises to depose Conte. “This is one step along the road of securing justice for Shane,” said Judd Burstein, another lawyer representing Mosley. “Conte can run, but he cannot hide from me.”

But to Conte’s attorney Tom Harvey, he saw the judge’s ruling differently, even pointing out he won an order from York that the depositions be allowed in California to save Conte and others the expenses. “Judd, who wasn’t even there, must be watching a different movie,” said Harvey.

Some facts however in the case are not in dispute. Shane Mosley and his trainer Daryl Hudson went to BALCO in the summer of 2003 and collected $1,850-worth of drugs, which includes the endurance-boosting hormone erythropoietin (EPO), “the Clear” (a steroid), and “the Cream” (a masking agent). Federal investigators even found “doping calendars” that Conte drew to layout Mosley’s regimen in preparation to a fight against Oscar De La Hoya. After the said meeting, Mosley and Hudson flew home and shipped the materials they purchased.

“Presumably they didn’t carry it on the plane because it was drugs,” Conte told the Daily News Wednesday. “It was a tiny bubble pack, five inches by nine inches, and inside that was a plastic bag with two little seven-CC vials, one of the Cream and one of the Clear. A needleless syringe that you would use under your tongue, a half-gram spoon. It was smaller than a book. In addition to that, there were a half dozen bottles of vitamins. They had a gym bag. It would easily have fit.”

Now, Shane Mosley is eyeing the Philippine boxing star and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao because he strongly believes that he can give a competitive fight. He made an official release statement on Friday where he challenged Pacquiao to fight within the year at a catch weight below 147 pounds. “I feel that Manny Pacquiao’s big enough and should be strong enough for me and him to have a good fight,” said Mosley. “Pacquiao was the only one that said yes, he would actually fight me, and I commend him for that. That’s how tough fighters should do.”

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