MANILA, Philippines – Mexican-American boxer Brandon Rios has strongly denied taking any banned substance while he was preparing for his boxing match against Manny Pacquiao last November.
Rios was tested positive for methylexanamine, a prohibited dietary supplement used to cut weight, following his unanimous decision loss to the Filipino superstar.
Rios, however, denied any knowledge of taking in anything illegal while he was cutting weight for the 147-pound match.
“I didn't do anything wrong for the Pacquiao fight,” said the Mexican-american fighter in an interview with World Boxing News.
“Everything I took before the fight was checked and I went through everything with Alex [Ariza] and as you see I made the weight right,” he added.
Ariza was Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach, who recently teamed up with Rios after he had a falling out with the Filipino’s camp.
The drug test was conducted by the Voluntary Anti-doping Association (VADA) who administered testing for both Pacquiao and Rios.
Both fighters were tested five times. The last test was conducted immediately after their fight that took place in Macau on November 24. Pacquiao passed all his tests, while Rios flunked the final one.
Boxing promoter Bob Arum, who blamed Ariza for the fiasco, said Rios was suspended by the Macau athletic commission for the infraction.
"They say it's not a steroid but it was something you should not have in your urine after a fight. So it went to the [Macau] commission that was in charge of the fight, and they gave him a suspension. He is allowed to appeal," Arum said in ESPN.com.
"It is not the fighter's fault. It's the people who are conditioning him. He's following orders on what to eat and drink, so I don't blame him. Brandon's not a nutritionist. It's generally the conditioner's fault if the kid doesn't make weight. This is Ariza's fault.”
Rios said he will first meet with his team to find out what went wrong with the test.
He, however, assured he did nothing out of the ordinary while preparing for the Pacquiao fight.
“It could be the energy drink I used, but that was nothing unusual. I don't know until I speak with my team and we get together, but that's all I believe it could be right now and until I hear more on this, I can't explain what went wrong,” said Rios.
“I did not cheat as some people are saying and I just want to get back in the ring soon and prove there is more to come from me.”