Ex-trainer says Mosley was aware of steroids

The ex-trainer of former three-division world champion boxer “Sugar” Shane Mosley of Pomona says in a sworn declaration filed in federal court Friday that Mosley was fully aware he was using performance-enhancing drugs as he prepared for his victorious 2003 rematch against Oscar De La Hoya.

Supporting the previous account of Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) founder Victor Conte, who is being sued for defamation by Mosley in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, trainer Derryl Hudson said Mosley relied on designer steroids “the cream” and “the clear,” along with the oxygen-boosting drug EPO after meeting Conte at BALCO headquarters in Burlingame, Calif., on July 26, 2003.

“I know that Mr. Mosley was aware that the performance-enhancing drugs provided to him by Mr. Conte were banned drugs because I discussed that fact with Mr. Mosley both during and after our visit to BALCO,” Hudson wrote in a declaration that was used in Conte’s motion to have the lawsuit dismissed. “Mr. Mosley admitted to me that he knew the drugs provided to him by Mr. Conte were illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

“It was entirely Mr. Mosley’s decision to use the banned drugs. I never recommended to Mr. Mosley that he take banned performance-enhancing drugs, nor did I ‘push’ drugs on him in any way.”

Hudson is suing Mosley, 36, for defamation in federal court in Los Angeles after the boxer told media outlets, including The Times, that he didn’t know he was taking banned drugs from BALCO. Mosley told The Times last year that Hudson convinced him to take stomach injections because they were “icing on the cake” to his typically rigorous conditioning program.

In response to Hudson’s declaration, Mosley’s attorney, Judd Burstein, said he was “incredulous” that the trainer has sued Mosley for suggesting Hudson pushed the boxer to use steroids yet admits in the sworn statement that performance-enhancing drugs were discussed at the BALCO meeting without an explanation of why Mosley visited Conte.

“This is just a clear lie by someone who was fired by Shane for incompetence, and was subsequently fired by two other fighters, Winky Wright and Jeff Lacy,” Burstein said. “The notion of Shane saying, ‘Let’s go meet someone to do something illegal,’ is outlandish to anyone who knows Shane.

“I’m looking forward to deposing Mr. Hudson. I’m loaded for bear.”

Conte, in his sworn declaration filed Friday, said that, “I explained the benefits of using three illegal performance-enhancing drugs commonly referred to as EPO, The Clear, and The Cream. Specifically, I explained to Mr. Mosley and Mr. Hudson that The Clear was an undetectable anabolic steroid and that The Cream contained testosterone and epitestosterone.

”. . . . I told Mr. Mosley and Mr. Hudson that in addition to assisting with red blood cell production, EPO enhances oxygen uptake and utilization, which is important in a sport requiring stamina and endurance like boxing. I further explained that EPO’s effects would provide Mr. Mosley with an advantage late in the fight with Oscar De La Hoya.”

In September 2003, Mosley captured a unanimous decision over De La Hoya in Las Vegas by winning the final three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.

The boxer (with a record of 44-5 with 37 knockouts) claims in his suit against Conte that the convicted steroid distributor and money launderer who served four months in federal prison was motivated to identify Mosley as a steroid user to boost sales of a book Conte is writing about BALCO, due out Sept. 2.

Conte’s company had ties with several elite athletes, including baseball’s Barry Bonds and former Olympic champion sprinter Marion Jones, before a September 2003 raid by federal law enforcement agents led to its downfall.

Mosley repeated in a five-page declaration filed last week that Conte never told him the supplements he received were illegal and he is requesting a speedy trial in an effort to clear his name before Conte’s book is published.

“I cannot begin to explain how devastating Conte’s false allegations have been to me,” Mosley wrote. “ . . . I believe that I have carved out an important place for myself in the sport’s history. All of my life’s work is at risk because of Conte’s lies. . . . I have a brand based upon the highest reputation for sportsmanship, and that brand is being irreparably tarnished by Conte.”

Mosley said the Conte book and publicity tour would link the boxer to illegal drugs to such a degree it will not be “fixable.”

Conte responded that he answered reporters’ questions honestly, and ridiculed Mosley’s claim that he paid $1,650 for what he thought were vitamins from BALCO. Conte said in his declaration that there is “no question” he informed Mosley that he was using “three banned performance-enhancing drugs.”

Mosley split with Hudson shortly after the BALCO raid. He was supposed to fight Zab Judah in a welterweight bout today, but a Judah injury has forced Mosley to seek another opponent.

At a Friday hearing in a federal courtroom in San Francisco, Judge Jeffrey S. White told attorneys it’d be impossible to conduct a summer trial on the case, but urged both sides to work for a trial before year’s end. Conte’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case that will be heard during the summer.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com