Boxer Nonito Donaire Submits to Year-Round Drug Testing
Filipino-American boxer Nonito Donaire, the reigning WBO Super Bantamweight Champion and the number four pound-for-pound boxer in the world, has enrolled in the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) program. VADA is an organization that offers and promotes effective anti-doping practices and programs in boxing and mixed martial arts.
Donaire will be the first professional boxer to submit himself to year-round drug testing, as revealed by his nutritionist and consultant, Victor Conte.
Donaire is set to fight Jeffrey Mathebula in a unification bout on July 7. Scheduling conflicts placed the boxer’s entry into the VADA program on July 8 or thereabouts, after the July 7 fight.
Victor Conte gave the following statement to BoxingScene.com: “When VADA was conceived, this was the ultimate goal… whether Nonito has a fight or doesn’t have a fight, he wants to go above and beyond anything Floyd Mayweather has done as far as drug testing goes. This is going to be true Olympic-style 365/24/7 drug testing.”
In another feature discussing the boxer’s enrollment with VADA, Donaire was quoted as saying: “I’m all for cleaning up this sport, and if they take care of their job with the stuff outside the ring, I promise to do my part as a fighter inside the ring. That’s why I’m doing this testing.”
Conte also shared information regarding drug testing for any of Donaire’s future opponents: “They will be politely offered a sponsorship eight weeks out so they will have the same opportunity as Nonito to show they have nothing to hide… It will have the highest standard of testing available. If they don’t want the testing, the media will get to say what they think about that.”
