In a year that has seen the first heavyweight title unification bout in two decades, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul may be the most watched fight in the entire sport. After all, unlike the rest of the big fights, the Tyson-Paul extravaganza will be broadcast live on Netflix, the world’s biggest streaming company. But what makes the fight even more interesting is the dr*g testing rules. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which is the sanctioning body for the November 15, Arlington, Texas card has revealed that both Paul and Tyson will be tested going into the fight.

In addition, due to his age, Tyson will need to clear an EKG and EEG to confirm that his heart and brain are healthy enough to compete. But Jake Paul’s last opponent, BKFC superstar ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry has rung alarm bells for their clash. In a podcast appearance with MMA coach extraordinaire, Tim Welch, the former UFC star revealed that he was in fact, not tested at all going into the Jake Paul fight.

“So I was undefeated 6 and O as far as the last three years, and then I fought Jake, it was the first time I hadn’t been dr*g tested. They tested me for all my fights except for the Jake Paul fight. but I heard maybe he’s [on ster***s]. No excuses I fight, I spar, train with people that are on the juice,” he said. However, since the Commission has confirmed compulsory testing for the Tyson-Paul fight, that will not be the case this time around. But that, according to Perry, doesn’t mean ‘The Problem Child’ won’t be indulging in performance enhancers this time around.

“But you know they didn’t test me at a fight of that magnitude, against a fighter as important as Jake Paul is to the system they’ve got set up and going. So I was surprised to not get tested and I heard, the s**t, if he’s on some s**t, it’s so good they can’t test for it anyways,” he added. This raises a very important question about the legitimacy of Paul’s exhibition outings. Let’s have a closer look at it.

Is there a way for Jake Paul to be taking performance enhancers without being detected?

The dr*g testing game inherently puts the testing agencies at a disadvantage. After all, the athletes in question have to test for specific PEDs, and there is a delay between when a new substance is introduced and before it gets banned. In effect, these testing agencies have to constantly catch up and add a substance to the prohibited list based on certain criteria.

This means there is hypothetically a chance that some athletes use certain PEDs that are not banned at that time. This, however, means that it is perfectly legal to use that dr*g for an unfair advantage in the bout. More importantly, however, there is indeed a now well-known way that athletes can take banned substances without getting caught.

The athletic world has something called ‘designer dr**s’. These substances are made to mimic the effects of a banned substance. But they are designed at the molecular level in such a way that they avoid being detected in a standard two-step test. This is almost certainly the type of PEDs that Perry thinks Jake Paul takes.

However since these dr**s cannot be detected without some type of whistleblower action, there is no way to tell if Perry is right or not. What do you think about Mike Perry’s claims about ‘The Problem Child’s alleged PED usage?