By Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger

Original @ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/06/black_market_pipeline_for_steroids_and_performance_enhancing_drugs_leads_to_china.html

NEW YORK — The brown paper package from China, sent by a company called Trendy Cosmetics, was addressed to a guy in Louisiana.

Inside was a box with an assortment of small colored bottles that looked like bath oil samples — except that some were labeled "methandrostenolone," an anabolic steroid popular with body builders.

"A needle in a haystack," remarked Wilfred Rivera, U.S. Customs and Border Protection branch chief at the International Mail Facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport. "We get 700,000 international parcels a day that we’re screening. Finding this is really like looking for a needle in a haystack."

When federal agents arrested an Edison personal trainer last month dealing steroids to buyers across the country, it opened a window on the pipeline to China — which has become a major supplier for black market performance enhancing drugs in this country.

Stoked by high demand, and fed by the relative anonymity of internet sales, the illicit sale of steroids is a booming business in the United States. And federal authorities acknowledge a lot of it gets through — most of it, they say, now being shipped from suppliers like "Trendy Cosmetics."

By ANNE EISENBERG

Original @ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/business/a-wearable-alert-to-head-injuries-in-sports.html?_r=1&

HARD knocks to the head are a constant concern in contact sports — and not just in football or boxing, where recent attention has focused. Millions of girls and boys play hockey, soccer, lacrosse and other sports where blows to the head from collisions and falls are part of the game, even in youth leagues and on high school teams.

Article By Gabriel Montoya

Original article @ http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-lead/marcos-maidana-settles-in-for-war-at-147

http://www.maxboxing.com/news/promo-lead/the-ballad-of-larry-olubamiwo-part-two

Before “Maravilla/Matthysse Mania,” Marcos Maidana was the dark horse darling of boxing’s Argentinean contingent. Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA against Josesito Lopez, he has a chance to get back on track for that sort of spotlight in a surefire action fight. For the hardcore set, Maidana emerged in February of 2009, losing a disputed split decision to Andriy Kotelnik in Germany for the latter’s WBA 140-pound title. That version of Maidana was a raw talent at the time. Squared up as he approached with hands down, Maidana raked his opponents with uppercuts and wide-swinging hooks.  Though he had some upper body movement in his game, Maidana seemed a fighter not quite developed despite being in title contention. Yet there he was despite his rough-around-the-edges style, challenging like a true threat.