Mia St. John: ‘Everyone’ in boxing does PEDs
The former fighter met some backlash on social media for her claim.
Ex-fighter Mia St. John, who of late has been working to honor the memory of her late son, who suffered with mental illness, has stirred up a hornets nest with her declaration that PED is rampant in the sport.
St. John, who combined a willingness for comabt with an attractive physical package, and in fact parlayed her aesthetic appeal and fame into a Playboy pictorial in 1999, weighed in on the PED matter late in the week.
She sought to take the side of Canelo Alvarez, who was punished for having a banned agent, clenbuterol, in his system earier this year. Basically, the 51 year old St John said, everyone’s doin’ it, so Gennady Golovkin should quit attacking the Mexican, and simply not box Canelo if he feels so strongly about it.
No small number of active fighters piped up on social media, and slammed St. John, who took up pro boxing at age 29, for saying that she feels like PED usage is wickedly rampant.
Tony Bellew, Carl Frampton, Amanda Serrano and Sergio Mora and others said no, they go with hard work and dedication, not shady chemical aides.
St. John followed up with an interview with the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire, in which she told the journalist details on her own usage of performance enhancers.
St. John last fought in 2016, and holds a 49-14-2 record. She worked for the top promoters in the sphere, including Bob Arum and Don King, and some of the women who lead the field now are speaking up against her. One can also note it is interesting to see who is being conspicuously quiet about the kerfuffle.
The ex-fighter debuted in 1997, and told Pugmire she’s seen evidence of usage in plenty of other fighters, but didn’t want to name names. Basically, one can infer who is not clean by noting who is in what camp, with what other fighters, and figure out who was a user, she says.
My three cents: The hornets will, I think, be buzzing for a spell more, as St. John has really hit raw nerves with her declarations.