By Bill "Two Scoops" Emes
The drug testing beef between Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez has been resolved, according to Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum. Marquez (55-6-1, 40KOs) challenges Bradley (30-0, 12KOs) for his WBO welterweight title on October 12th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
In the last few weeks, the fighters have bickered over the drug testing protocol. Bradley wanted VADA [Voluntary Anti Drug Association] to handle the drug tests, while Marquez wanted USADA [United States Anti Doping Agency].
To settle the issue, Arum selected the Nevada State Athletic Commission to run the entire random drug testing protocol. He paid the NSAC additional funds to run a testing protocol similar to VADA/USADA.
"Everything is fine. The Nevada Commission is running the tests. They are taking extensive tests. They started it [on Tuesday]. Everything is in order. The tests by the Nevada Commission will be just as or even more extensive than USADA or VADA. You have to understand that these are the same tests. These organizations may evaluate them differently but the tests are the tests. If you were trained, you could put a needle in somebody and take the blood," Arum told BoxingScene.com.