DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 1997            TAG: 9711180453

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  134 lines

DRUG TEST: SWEETPEA FIGHTS BACK

Several boxing historians say Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker is easily the most prominent fighter to fail a mandatory drug test.

Lawyer Pat English is determined to make sure that's not how Whitaker goes down in history.

English began the first step Monday in challenging the validity of Whitaker's positive drug test for cocaine by asking that the second portion of Whitaker's urine sample be tested. The sample is split into two specimens, with one bottle sent to the lab for testing and the other held by the commission.

Whitaker took the drug test in conjunction with his Oct. 17 fight against Andrei Pestriaev at Foxwoods Resort Casino, located on an Indian reservation near Ledyard, Conn. The Mashantucket Pequot Gaming and Athletic Commission informed Whitaker two weeks ago that he had tested positive for cocaine. Whitaker, a 13-year pro from Virginia Beach, has won six world titles in four weight classes.

If the positive test result stands, the commission could mete out punishment ranging from a fine to a lengthy suspension to revocation of Whitaker's license. It also could overturn the result of the fight or declare it no contest.

``It could be any of the above, or none of the above,'' said Arthur Henick, a spokesman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

Neither Mashantucket Pequot Gaming and Athletic Commissioner Robert Hayward nor executive director John Meskill would agree to be interviewed. The Virginian-Pilot faxed a list of questions to the commission, which provided some answers through Henick.

``The worst-case scenario for Mr. Whitaker is the fight is overturned, the decision is null and void, and he loses his purse,'' Henick said. Whitaker made $1 million for the fight.

There has been confusion over the length of Whitaker's suspension, which is automatically picked up by other boxing commissions nationwide. Henick said the initial 30-day suspension is pending a hearing. If Whitaker does not request a hearing, the suspension continues indefinitely.

A positive drug test carries a six-month suspension in most states, said Virginia boxing commissioner Doug Beavers. Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner said that in his state, a first-time positive test for cocaine draws a one-year suspension.

Henick said a hearing will be granted within a week of the request. It would be at Foxwoods and would be presided over by executive director Meskill. Whitaker's lawyer would be able to introduce evidence, call witnesses and cross-examine witnesses at the hearing.

Henick said penalties - if there are any - would be meted out after the hearing. Whitaker could appeal that ruling to the commission. After that, another appeal could be made to the Association of Boxing Commissions, an organization of state commissioners.

``In the history of boxing here, we have amicably and happily resolved any previous disputes over a wide range of issues, including a positive drug test,'' Henick said. Foxwoods has hosted professional boxing for about five years.

English, the lawyer for Whitaker's promotional firm Main Events, said he will pursue all avenues of appeal in an attempt to clear Whitaker's name. His best argument appears to be potential problems with the chain-of-custody documentation, which details the collection, handling, storage, transportation and testing of a urine sample.

The chain of custody should document everyone who had possession of the sample to ``ensure that the specimen and the results are correctly matched to the person who gave the specimen, and that the specimen is not altered or tampered with from the point of collection through the reporting of test results,'' according to a 1992 publication of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

English said he received only a single sheet indicating Whitaker gave a sample, but has no documentation showing who had custody of it from that point forward.

``Frankly, it's building my case,'' English said. ``In one sense, as a lawyer, I'm very pleased with what I've got, because it doesn't show a chain of custody. But I like to see things done correctly. If this is all they've got, in a court of law this document would be meaningless.

``Honestly, it may be they just don't know what a chain-of-custody document is.''

That would seem to be Whitaker's best defense, because refuting the validity of the test isn't likely to be fruitful.

``We know of no case in which data from U.S. laboratories have been successfully refuted,'' Don Catlin and Thomas Murray wrote in a 1996 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. ``There are no documented cases of sabotage in the legal or medical literature.''

Brian Payne, an assistant professor in sociology and criminal justice at Old Dominion, said the reliability of drug tests depends on the type and cost of the test. Payne said the most sophisticated tests - a gas chromatography mass spectrometry - is 99.9 percent accurate, while less sophisticated tests are still 98 percent reliable.

``Very high reliability, statistically speaking,'' Payne said. ``But there's always a potential for error.''

Henick would not say what kind of test was used for Whitaker's sample.

Cocaine is detectable in a drug test only two to four days after use.

Murray, a member of the Committee on Sports Medicine for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said in a 1991 article in CQ Researcher that the stimulant properties in cocaine could have value in enhancing short-term performance, but positive tests for cocaine generally are the residue of recreational use.

``The athletes we find it in usually are addicted or extremely careless,'' Murray said in the article.

Former Maryland basketball star Len Bias tops the list of athletes who have fallen victim to cocaine. The drug killed him in 1986. Pitcher Dwight Gooden tested positive in 1987. In 1989, Stanley Wilson of the Cincinnati Bengals was kicked off the team on the eve of Super Bowl XXIII for allegedly taking cocaine in his hotel room. Sugar Ray Leonard, though he never tested positive, admitted in 1991 he used cocaine and drank heavily from 1983 to '86 following surgery for a detached retina. International soccer star Diego Maradona also tested positive for cocaine. The list could go on and on.

English is trying to keep Whitaker's name off that list and restore his reputation, which at one time included the label as the world's best fighter, pound-for-pound.

``I'd say Whitaker probably was the most prominent (boxer to fail a drug test),'' said boxing historian Hank Kaplan. ``There's almost no question about it.''

Boxing expert Bert Sugar, The Ring magazine editor-in-chief Steve Farhood and International Boxing Digest editor Herbert G. Goldman all concur.

Kaplan pointed out boxing history is replete with notorious drug abusers - among them heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas and junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor in the 1980s.

``Those were much worse cases than Pernell Whitaker,'' Kaplan said. ``But they didn't get involved in testing for drugs in those days.''

Whitaker, 33, has been tested repeatedly throughout his career, which includes 21 world title fights since 1988.

For insurance reasons, promoters conduct physicals of headline fighters a few weeks before the bout. That physical includes a drug test, and a second one is taken at the fight. No title was at stake in the Pestriaev fight, which was an elimination bout between the World Boxing Association's top two welterweight contenders.

Mike Boorman, a spokesman for Main Events, said Whitaker has never tested positive before. Whitaker, who has declined repeated interview requests, has denied using any banned substance. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Pernell Whitaker...

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