Alex Ariza voiced his frustrations over what he deemed as unfair treatment by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) regarding the drug testing between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios, who are set to collide on Nov. 24th.
In a post on his Twitter account, Ariza wrote that Rios has been tested twice in the first few weeks of their training camp, while Pacquiao has yet to be tested by the agency.
The strength and conditioning coach of Rios, who quickly clarified that he is not doubting his former trainee, added that VADA has no plans of testing Pacquiao until he arrives in China.
"Brandon [had his] second test by VADA [on Tuesday]. VADA just confirmed they have yet to test Manny and there are NO plans to test him until China. That's fair. [Rios's trainer] Robert [Garcia] asked them why only Brandon, they [no testing of Pacquiao] until China," Ariza stated.
Pacquiao, who is looking to bounce back from two straight devastating defeats, is currently training in General Santos City in the Philippines and Ariza believes that the training location could be the reason why VADA has not yet conducted drug tests on Pacquiao.
Upon learning about Ariza's accusations, VADA founder Margaret Goodman expressed his disappointment over the accusation, reiterating that both fighters have been tested and that the results were not released to the public.
"I confirm that both fighters have been tested by VADA. The results that we get go directly to the fighter, or to whomever he designates from his camp. They go to the promoter, which is obviously Top Rank, the China Commission, and it goes to the Association of Boxing Commissions," said Goodman in an interview with Lem Satterfield of RingTV. "So we don't release results to the public. The fighter can release results to the public at any time."
The Anti-Doping Association also released a statement on their official website, saying that were asked by Top Rank to confirm that both fighters have already been tested at least twice since Sept. 12th.
"Top Rank has requested that VADA issue the following statement, hereby confirming that both Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios have each been tested at least twice since they entered the VADA program on September 12, 2013 and that both camps have cooperated fully. VADA salutes Top Rank, Team Pacquiao, and Team Rios for their commitment to clean sport," VADA posted on their official website.
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