Shane Mosley vs. Gatorade

In an era of steroids and human growth hormone, add another banned substance to the list: Gatorade.

Banned, that is, from the corner of Fernando Vargas for his junior-middleweight fight tonight against Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Judge Kenneth Cory of Nevada’s 8th Judicial District Court granted a temporary restraining order requested by Golden Boy Promotions, Mosley’s promoter, late Friday afternoon, prohibiting the use of the sports drink by Vargas.

So it’s back to plain, old, boring water for both fighters in tonight’s match.

Attorneys for Golden Boy argued that Mosley had not received fair notice that, breaking with past tradition, approved sports drinks would be permitted because of safety concerns. The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced a series of rule changes Tuesday that included the introduction of the drinks. Golden Boy, the attorneys argued, were led to believe those changes would go into effect in the next few months.

Vargas received permission by midweek to have Gatorade, a drink he says he uses regularly in training camp. Mosley said he had never consumed Gatorade in training and would not want to experiment with it on fight night.

Richard Schaefer, one of Mosley’s promoters, filed a protest with the Nevada commission that was denied Thursday night.

And so a fight, which was supposed to hinge on Vargas’ power and Mosley’s speed, came down instead to the potential value of Vargas’ liquid assets.

First produced nearly 41 years ago by Dr. Robert Cade of the University of Florida to help the Gator football team, thus its name, the glucose-based drink has been an incredible marketing success story. But just how effective it is remains in dispute. In his book, “First in Thirst,” Darren Rovell claims that, for 99% of those involved in physical activity, there isn’t adequate proof Gatorade is much better than a gulp of cool, refreshing water.

Still, Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada commission, found Friday’s ruling hard to swallow.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “We’ve got issues with dehydration. We wanted to give fighters more choice to protect themselves like they do in other sports. Why boxers are treated worse than anyone else I don’t get. At least boxers can be treated like human beings after [today].”

Indeed, not only did Cory base his ruling solely on the timing of the commission’s decision, but the judge also gave tonight’s undercard fighters the right to use approved sports drinks because no objections had been raised by their respective opponents.

Kathy Duva, Vargas’ promoter, claimed, upon hearing the judges’ ruling, that Vargas had never intended to use Gatorade.

“We were just having fun,” she said. “If [Golden Boy] wanted to file a protest and go to court, they can knock themselves out. We wouldn’t have used it anyway. Fernando Vargas is going to win this fight regardless of what drinks are in the corner. And if he chooses to use Gatorade in the locker room before the fight, that is his right.”

When Duva expressed those remarks to Schaefer, he became as outraged as he had over the initial decision to allow Gatorade in the ring.

“That is the most unprofessional thing I have ever heard,” said Schaefer, referring to Duva. “For a promoter to tell me she was just trying to have fun is a disgrace to the sport. If Fernando Vargas feels this is the kind of game he likes to play, you can see why boxing is where it is. There is no room for people like [Duva] in boxing.”

Tonight’s fight has a lot to live up to if it hopes to match the pre-fight battles. But if the first meeting between Mosley (42-4, 36 knockouts) and Vargas (27-3, 23) is any indication, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Their February fight ended with a TKO victory by Mosley in the 10th round. But it really ended in the first round when Mosley landed a punch on Vargas’ left eyebrow that gradually grew, as the fight wore on, into a grotesque swollen mass that shut Vargas’ left eye and left him helpless against Mosley’s right hand.

Still, despite his severe limitation, Vargas was able to make a fight of it, leaving observers to wonder what might have happened had Vargas had two clear eyes.

The answer should come to tonight. But no matter what happens, the events of Friday won’t be forgotten.

There have been battles over the padding of the gloves, the nature of the trunks and the size of the ring. But this was a first, three teams of lawyers, representing Vargas, Mosley and the Nevada commission, in a courtroom fighting over Gatorade.

Dr. Robert Cade would be proud.

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TONIGHT

Fernando Vargas vs. Shane Mosley

at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino

12 rounds, light middleweights. TV: Pay-per-view. Card begins at 6 p.m.