Pacquiao, Arum confirm VADA testing

Manny Pacquiao wanted to clear something up.

The eight-time world champion said he has been tested twice by the Las Vegas-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency for his Nov. 23 welterweight fight with Brandon Rios in Macau after reports surfaced that only Rios had been tested.

“Yes, I was tested twice, so there is no problem,” Pacquiao said on a conference call Thursday from the Philippines. “The testing is fine, and I am happy to do it. Random (drug) testing is good for boxing.”

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, whose company promotes both fighters, paid for the testing, which began Sept. 12 and was confirmed by VADA co-founder Margaret Goodman. Arum said he selected VADA over the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, but he didn’t say whether both fighters passed their tests.

“I selected VADA because this is not the usual situation,” Arum said. “This fight is taking place outside of the country in a place that isn’t used to boxing. I needed a collection and testing agency that could handle outside the country since Manny was going to train in the Philippines, and they’ve been able to do it.

“They sent a collector twice, I think from Germany, and I have confidence in their ability to do a good policing job. The only alternative I had was the other organization, which I don’t care for.”

■ BRONER FIGHT MOVED — Golden Boy Promotions and Showtime announced Saturday that the Dec. 14 WBA welterweight title fight between champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 knockouts) and Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KOs) is moving from the MGM Grand Garden to the Alamodome in San Antonio on that date and will be televised on Showtime instead of Showtime Pay Per View.

Broner-Maidana was going to be the final major fight card of 2013 in Las Vegas. Golden Boy also had plans for a card on Dec. 13, but it has been canceled.

“We were all set to go in Las Vegas, but when we canceled the Nov. 30 card in San Antonio and we juggled things around, we felt it was the right thing to do for San Antonio,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said.

Broner-Maidana will headline a card that includes title fights featuring WBC bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (25-0-1, 15 KOs) against Cesar Seda (25-1, 17 KOs), Keith Thurman (21-0, 19 KOs) against Jesus Soto Karass (28-8-3, 18 KOs) for the interim WBA welterweight title and WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov (13-1, eight KOs) against Tamas Kovacs (23-0, 14 KOs).

The card will come a week after a revamped Dec. 7 card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. That card, which will be televised on Showtime, also features four major fights, headlined by Brooklyn welterweights Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, seven KOs) and Zab Judah (42-8, 29 KOs) squaring off. Also, Devon Alexander (25-1, 14 KOs) will defend his IBF welterweight belt against Shawn Porter (22-0-1, 14 KOs), Erislandy Lara (18-1-2, 12 KOs) and Austin Trout (26-1, 14 KOs) will meet for the vacant WBA junior middleweight title, and Sakio Bika (32-5-2, 21 KOs) will defend his WBC super middleweight title against Anthony Dirrell (26-0, 22 KOs).

■ ALL CLEAN — Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez passed their drug tests from their Oct. 12 fight at the Thomas &Mack Center. All other fighters on the card also tested negative.

■ NEW CHAIRMAN — Bill Brady’s term as chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission ends Thursday, and Francisco Aguilar is expected to take over.

Aguilar, who lives in Las Vegas, has been a member of the five-person board since 2009.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.