MANILA – Filipino ring legend Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and American fighter Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios have been tested by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) ahead of their November 24 fight.
VADA founder Margaret Goodman told RingTV that both fighters have already been tested, as stipulated in their contract.
“I can confirm that both fighters have been tested by VADA,” Goodman said. “The results that we get go directly to the fighter, or to whomever he designates from his camp.”
“They got to the promoter, which is obviously Top Rank, the China Commission, and it goes to the Association of Boxing Commissioners,” she added.
Goodman said VADA will not release the results to the public, but “the fighter can release results to the public at any time.”
It is the first time in his career that Pacquiao is undergoing random drug testing for a fight. It has been a controversial issue with the Filipino boxer, as random drug testing was one of the demands of unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather for a mega-fight between the two.
Top Rank chief executive Bob Arum confirmed last May that they are paying for the random drug testing.
It is the third time that Top Rank has utilized the services of VADA. The organization also conducted the random drug testing for Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov in their March 2013 fight, as well as for Nonito Donaire and Guillermo Rigondeaux in their April 2013 fight.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
