People from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) showed up at the Wild Card Boxing Club yesterday and took Manny Pacquiao’s blood and urine samples six weeks before his 21 August clash with Errol Spence in Las Vegas.
The VADA also took samples of Pacquiao’s urine last Monday, a day after the Filipino legend arrived in the United States from Manila.
But what stood out yesterday was the rapid antigen swab test done not only on Pacquiao but on members of his team as well.
Turns out all 42 who were tested came out negative and Pacquiao was obviously elated over the result that he gladly waved a flaglet certifying that he was Covid-19 negative.
Pacquiao hasn’t been vaccinated yet although members of his entourage have already been fully immunized.
Jhay Otamias, a stringer for a local news outlet, was among those who got tested also by Grapevine Home Health Services.
Pacquiao lawyer Tom Falgui said the makeshift testing center is one way of safeguarding everyone’s well-being, not just Pacquiao.
“You don’t get in if you’re not tested,” Falgui said.
Still, concerns about the coronavirus remain high given the possibility of breakthrough infections even among those who have been fully vaccinated.
The much-awaited Tyson Fury versus Deontay Wilder heavyweight showdown set 24 July at the T-Mobile Arena, has been called off after several people inside the camp of Fury, including the fighter himself, had tested positive.
According to reports, while Wilder and his entourage are fully inoculated, not everyone over at Fury’s is. The fighter got the first dose but begged off, reportedly, from getting the second jab.
Last month, world lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez tested positive just on the eve of his fight with former Pacquiao sparring partner Geoge Kambosos and Top Rank had to reschedule it.
