BALCO founder says Shane Mosley knew he was using steroids
Victor Conte, sued by boxer for slander last week, says Mosley was not deceived about what he was given before 2003 victory over Oscar De La Hoya.
BALCO founder Victor Conte on Tuesday said former world champion boxer Shane Mosley knew "exactly and precisely what he was doing" when he engaged in a doping program before his 2003 victory over Oscar De La Hoya.
Mosley last week sued Conte for slander and libel after Conte said he was planning a new book that would "set the record straight" on Mosley's knowledge about using the designer steroids known as "the clear" and "the cream," and the blood-doping drug EPO.
Mosley maintains in the lawsuit that Conte told him "all of the products recommended . . . were entirely legal and appropriate."
But Conte said Tuesday that Mosley knew he was being given steroids.
"I didn't deceive him; he knew what he was taking and I told him that before he took it," said Conte, who served four months in federal prison for steroid distribution and money laundering after the 2003 raid of his Burlingame, Calif., Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative resulted in the discovery of detailed doping calendars of elite athletes.
One of those athletes was Olympic sprinter Marion Jones, who in October ended years of denials and acknowledged she had used steroids and lied to federal agents looking into BALCO. She was sentenced to six months in prison and retired in disgrace.
In Mosley's case, Conte says he has access to the boxer's doping calendars and lab results, which he said help support his claims.
"I told him it was an undetectable steroid that wouldn't show up in a test," Conte said.
Pomona's Mosley, 36, had beaten his Southern California rival De La Hoya by split decision in 2000 before landing that 2003 rematch.
Conte said his doping calendars for Mosley, known in the documents by the initials "S.M.," show the boxer started using "the clear," a liquid steroid dropped under the tongue, and EPO, which was injected into Mosley's stomach area, on July 26, 2003 -- exactly seven weeks before the De La Hoya rematch.
Mosley first used the drugs with Conte, BALCO vice president James Valente and Mosley's conditioning trainer Derryl Hudson watching in Conte's office, Conte said. Hudson is suing Mosley for defamation in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, and the trainer's attorney Tuesday declined to comment about Conte's claims. Valente could not be reached Tuesday.
Conte said his records show Mosley flew to Oakland on July 26, 2003, and was transported to BALCO headquarters by limousine. The boxer also had a "baseline" blood draw taken at nearby Mills Peninsula Health Services, Conte said.
