Over the years, boxing has seen several high-profile fighters test positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Yet, despite these incidents, none of the top names have faced lasting consequences. While fighters often receive suspensions—typically lasting about a year—they are generally allowed to return to the sport as if nothing happened. 

This recurring cycle — short bans followed by returns to headline status — has become a central gripe among analysts who say regulatory gaps and commercial incentives blunt deterrence.

In the wake of the tragic deaths of Japanese boxers Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, two former world champions and current ProBox TV panelists have pointed to PED use as a significant risk factor that can contribute to fatal outcomes in the sport. During a recent segment on BoxingScene, panelists Paulie Malignaggi and Chris Algieri strongly criticized the blatant use of PEDs in boxing while also commenting on how the NFL can prevent it all. 

While discussing the increased power and conditioning of today’s fighters, Algieri emphasized that although training and skill have improved, PEDs are playing a significant role in enhancing punching power. “And then we have the drug thing. There are guys on peds,” he said. Algieri alleged that boxers today use drugs to make weight. “They’re able to cut more weight because of the drugs… So, you’re getting guys who are bigger, stronger, faster, [and] having an easier time making the weight.”

The 41-year-old argues that boxers can push past the limits of what their bodies can handle thanks to the PEDs. Despite that, Algieri claims that changing this problem is difficult and is an ongoing issue, as Malignaggi jumped in. “That’s the one [thing] they won’t change because it brings in too much money,” Malignaggi stated. “When you create a superstar who can win and win [in an exciting fashion] and continue to do it in wacky ways, you don’t want to say it’s PEDs. You want to say, ‘Oh, he’s a phenomenon,’ because it generates a lot of money.”

Malignaggi also alleged widespread PED use in the NFL, reflecting on his childhood memories of watching NFL players growing up. “NFL players back in the day [when I was] growing up, and the guys from the 50s were still around in the 80s and 90s,” he said, explaining the sport used to be clean during that time and players lived longer lives. However, he alleged that the players during the 80s and 90s were engaged in absolute violence, fueled by banned substances. 

“The guys who played in the 80s and 90s during the PED era, they were smashing each other, absolutely wrecking each other. They’re all dying now or [are] dead,” he said. Malignaggi feels that if the NFL makes its rules stricter, PED usage would decline, and other sports, like boxing, would follow suit. Algieri intervenes, though, to claim that doing this will prevent the higher-ups and decision-makers from making more money. 

Malignaggi quickly agrees, adding, “That’s why conversation goes nowhere.” He claims they can talk about such issues all day, every day, but “the guys at the top don’t care. They’re just going to pretend to care for a week… until the next time somebody dies.” Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa were just the latest victims, and Algieri believes he knows what may have caused it.

How did Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa die? 

On August 2nd, Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa fought two different opponents, Yoji Saito and Yamato Hata. After their respective fights, both 28-year-olds were taken to a hospital for emergency brain surgery to treat acute subdural hematomas. However, all efforts to save their lives didn’t matter as they died last Friday and Saturday. 

While no foul play or PED use is suspected, Algieri argued during the BoxingScene interview that Japanese boxers spar way harder and keep moving forward despite taking heavy damage, which has a higher risk of injuries. However, most importantly, he thinks Japanese boxers are forced to stay at their contracted fight weight, which directly affects the boxer’s “cerebrospinal fluid,” resulting in brain injuries. 

Despite arguments from Paulie Malignaggi and Chris Algieri, PED usage might not stop anytime soon. Whether usage causes enough damage to reduce a fighter’s life is unclear, but its absence is unarguably better for the sport and its athletes. These deaths come amid a string of recent brain-injury scares and fatalities in the region — notable prior cases include Kazuki Anaguchi last year and Ginjiro Shigeoka undergoing brain surgery earlier in 2025, which many commentators say underline systemic risks in some domestic circuits. What is your take on PEDs and their effect on fighters?