HUMAN psychology, in short, is shaped by how individuals respond to consequences.
Behaviours followed by positive outcomes, for instance, are typically repeated, whereas, a negative outcome – or rather, a sufficiently stern punishment – is likely to put an end to any unpalatable actions that came before it.
In other words, the existence of a deterrent is vitally important, not least because of the devastating effects that occur when certain people, perhaps with misguided intentions, are given the opportunity to run wild.
Boxing, more specifically, is a sport where the safety of each athlete is placed in constant jeopardy, keeping every friend and family member on tenterhooks whenever their loved one steps through the ropes.
Yet despite that, the industry’s attitude towards doping – a form of cheating where lives can quite easily be broken, shattered or torn to pieces – remains problematic to say the very least.
Quite frankly, the ‘punishments’ that tend to emerge after a failed drugs test are at best, nebulous, and at worst, pathetic – at times, to an infuriatingly farcical degree.
And so, given the undesirable state of affairs that boxing has emphatically surrendered itself to, it came as little surprise that the WBC issued a widely lambasted verdict just two days ago.
In its statement, the sanctioning body revealed that Francisco Rodruguez Jr, who tested positive for heptaminol – a cardiac stimulant – following his victory over Galal Yafai, will not suffer a suspension under its jurisdiction.
According to the WBC, the Mexican’s ‘ingestion of a banned substance(s) was accidental, unintentional, unknowing, and not directed to enhance his performance’.
That assessment, however, offers a drastically different story to what we saw in the ring.
On that particular night last month, Rodriguez, 40-6-1 (27 KOs) – according to CompuBox – broke the all-time record for the highest number of punches landed in a flyweight contest.
Not only that, but his performance – which was more akin to The Duracell Bunny, rather than a clean athlete – saw him maintain an impossibly frenetic tempo from start to finish.
In that sense, the optics of their 12-round battle left very little to the imagination, so much so that former world champion Sunny Edwards even offered his own view during DAZN’s live broadcast.
Along with the WBC’s verdict that Rodriguez never intentionally ingested heptaminol, meanwhile, it was also confirmed that Yafai, 9-1 (7 KOs), has been reinstated as the organisation’s interim champion at 112lbs.
At the same time, though, the WBC has ordered an immediate rematch between the two contenders, while placing Rodriguez under a 12-month probation period where he is expected to fund his own drugs testing.
As a result, the 33-year-old – aside from any ruling made by the British Boxing Board of Control – has been given the green light to resume his career which, almost as if by magic, is likely to lead him towards a series of lucrative opportunities.
From that angle, too, it can only be considered a positive outcome for Rodriguez, whose lack of a meaningful punishment could now be added to a long list of similar developments.
