Smith and Canelo no longer with VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) ahead of their WBO junior-middleweight title fight in Texas next month.
WBO 154lbs champion Liam Smith and Mexican challenger Canelo Alvarez are in the very final stages of preparations ahead of their showdown in Dallas on September 17th.
Both men were understood to be using the organisation VADA for drug testing in preparation for the fight, but VADA on their official website have released the following (brief) statements in relation to both fighters:
And on Canelo Alvarez:
While it is not clear at this point why both men have withdrawn from VADA ahead of their bout with only a few weeks remaining to the fight, speculation that the cost and expense of implementing the VADA testing has been mooted as one reason.
The world governing body which is sanctioning the bout the WBO (World Boxing Organisation), do not have a requirement that extra testing from outside organisations such as VADA have to be involved in the testing of fighters competing for their titles.
Instead as per their guidelines on their official website, they encourage the local commissions to do so in part (c) under section 28 (drugs and stimulants) of their published regulations of world championship contests – which states:
“The World Boxing Organization encourages all Local Boxing Commissions to conduct anti-doping tests before or after the fight. If the Local Boxing Commission conducts the tests, they shall be administered in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Local Boxing Commission.”
The undercard for the Smith and Canelo event was confirmed recently and with only just under three weeks to go until fight night, this route for testing seems like the most likely scenario.
VADA currently has a regular role in the sport of professional boxing and is involved in the testing of big up coming championship fights such as Gennady Golovkin vs Kell Brook, along with having well known world champions such as light-heavyweight kingpin Sergey Kovalev currently part of their program.
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