Manny Pacquiao vs Brandon Rios News: Pacquiao Says He Is Fine With Random Drug Testing

Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to collide with Brandon Rios on Nov. 24th at the Venetian Resort in Macau and the comeback fight of the former welterweight champion will mark the first time that he submitted himself to random drug testing.

Pacquiao, who is looking to redeem himself after two straight losses to Timothy Bradley and Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez, previously declined to undergo random drug testing.

Four years ago, the colossal showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. was almost agreed upon, but Pacman's refusal to submit himself to random testing nixed the fight, Pacquiao saying that he doesn't need to be tested because he is clean.

But years later, Pacquiao's stance on this kind of testing is the complete opposite of his previous stance, saying that random drug testing is good for the sport.

"Testing is fine and I'm happy to do that," Pacquiao said in an interview with Jake Donovan of Boxingscene. "I'm fine with random testing. It's good for boxing."

The 34-year-old Filipino also refuted the claim of his former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who voiced out his frustration on what he called as unfair treatment by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA). Ariza said that Rios has been tested twice, but VADA has yet to test Pacquiao - an accusation that was already denied by VADA.

"I was tested twice so far. There is no problem with the testing," Pacquiao said.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum backed Pacquiao's statement, saying that a VADA representative from Germany went to the Philippines to conduct testing, while also pointing out the reason why they agreed to allow VADA to conduct random testing.

"I selected VADA for this fight. Both fighters said they'd welcome drug testing. This fight is not the usual situation. The fight is taking place outside the country. I needed a testing agency that can handle testing outside the country since Manny was training in the Philippines. They've collected twice. I think once representative came from Germany to collect," Arum said.