By Ryan Maquiñana
Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri will both submit to random drug testing that will be conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association leading up to the fighters’ Nov. 22 pay-per-view showdown in Macau, China.
Team Pacquiao informed BoxingScene.com on Tuesday that the testing will occur during the two combatants’ training camps as well as after the fight, which will be for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title. The Fight Network first reported the news earlier Tuesday afternoon.
Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs), from General Santos, Philippines, employed VADA for his 2013 decision win over Brandon Rios. Though Pacquiao came up clean, Rios tested positive for a banned stimulant and was subsequently suspended for five months.
VADA requires the fighter to produce blood and urine samples at random, with carbon isotope ratio (CIR) testing, which focuses on detecting synthetic testosterone, as part of the program. It was a VADA test that found Lamont Peterson positive for synthetic testosterone in March 2012.
Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs), from Huntington, N.Y., now holds the WBO junior welterweight belt that Peterson unsuccessfully challenged for in 2009. The unbeaten New Yorker will be moving up in weight to face Pacquiao.
Ryan Maquiñana is the Boxing Insider at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and the Editor-in-Chief of Norcalboxing.com. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @RMaq28 or email him at rmaquinana@gmail.com .
