Cocaine video won’t stop Shane Mumford’s boxing career
SHANE Mumford’s boxing career will continue uninterrupted despite his recent cocaine video, with the bustling heavyweight set to climb into the ring again in three weeks.
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SHANE Mumford’s boxing career will continue uninterrupted despite his recent cocaine video, with the bustling heavyweight set to climb into the ring again in three weeks.
Mumford’s boxing promoter Ricky Nixon told the Herald Sun he was in the process of teeing up another fight in mid-November.
The triple-club player and Sydney premiership star has been told by GWS to undertake a drug rehabilitation and education after a video emerged of him snorting a line of cocaine in 2015.
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But Nixon confirmed he would fight his second professional bout in Sydney on November 19.
His original opponent this week pulled out of the fight but another candidate is set to be confirmed in coming days.
Nixon is also eyeing off a potential fight for Mumford on an undercard of a world title fight in Australia next year.
Nixon is confident there are no ongoing ramifications from the cocaine video that will affect the November 19 fight.
“At this stage nothing will stop his boxing career. This has nothing to do with his boxing career. The situation with GWS will take care of itself and that is his business with his football manager Anthony McConville,’’ he said.
“Not to defend this situation, but it happened three years ago and it’s an isolated incident, so he has a fight to worry about in three weeks time.”
Mumford knocked out opponent Kyle Brumby in his professional debut at the Melbourne Pavilion in July but is still some way from his ambition of fighting rugby league star Paul Gallen.
That fight impressed former IBF world middleweight champion Sam Soliman, who said he had shown good composure in the ring.
The Giants are still considering whether to take Mumford as ruck backup, with the strong-bodied ruckman keen to play again after taking a year off through injury.
They have not guaranteed to him or his manager McConville that they will take him, with some interest from Melbourne clubs if the Giants overlook him.
AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh this week confirmed the Herald Sun’s report that Mumford would dodge a strike under the illicit drugs policy because he was not a current listed player.
“He’s not a current player at the moment so I’m not sure how he would get a strike,” Marsh said.
“I’m not sure at this point. If and when he becomes a current player, then I’m sure we’ll have that conversation around that particular issue.”
The emergence of the Mumford video came only months after Collingwood’s Sam Murray potentially sabotaged his career with a match-day cocaine positive that could see him banned for four years.
Murray will have had his B sample tested by now, and will be awaiting confirmation of a doping hearing where he could argue for discounts on the maximum four year ban.
“We know some players abuse illicit drugs from time to time and that’s why we have an illicit drugs policy in place,” Marsh told 3AW.
“Young people do make silly and impulsive decisions from time to time. We know drugs are in our industry and our society.
“We’ve had issues like this in the past, there’ll be issues like this again in the future.”
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