Donaire won’t give up fight
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 14 Dec 2020
Brandishing three negative tests to prove a false positive, Nonito Donaire, Jr. said yesterday he’s still hoping against hope to be given the green light for his fight against Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez in Connecticut this Saturday but the decision rests with Premier Boxing Champions owner Al Haymon and promoter Tom Brown to reverse the cancellation that was prompted by a qualitative NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test) result for COVID-19.
Last Dec. 4, Donaire took his third qualitative NAAT test as prescribed by Baker Street Health which was contracted to do COVID-19 examinations. He had tested negative in two previous tests done on Nov. 25 and 30. The result of the third test was released last Dec. 8 and it came out positive from Quest Diagnostic. Donaire was then told he would be pulled out of the fight for the vacant WBC bantamweight title and put on a six-week monitoring program. He appealed for a confirmatory test but it was denied. On his own, Donaire paid for one antigen and two qualitative NAAT tests a day after the other. Yesterday, the second qualitative NAAT result was released. All three results were negative, confirming the false positive.
The other day, Donaire went to a warehouse gym in Las Vegas and sparred 12 rounds with no symptoms of the virus. “I’m ready to fight,” he said. “We know all of these tests aren’t 100 percent accurate so why deny me a confirmatory test? At my expense, I did not one, not two but three confirmatory tests, two of which were qualitative NAAT so the comparison is apples to apples. They were all negative. Surely, that’s a stronger basis for accuracy than one result.”
Donaire’s wife Rachel said it’s every one’s right to ask for a confirmatory test, especially fighters. “They do it for pro basketball players even if they’re different from pro boxers,” she said. “Pro basketball players are salaried athletes. But pro boxers get paid only if they fight so all the more they should be given a confirmatory test after a positive result because they lose an opportunity to earn unlike basketball players who are paid even if they don't play. This cancellation deprives Nonito of a chance to make a living for his family. They’ve told us to wait for (WBC champion in-recess Nordine) Oubaali to recover from COVID-19 but when will that happen? Oubaali’s in France where there’s a new surge of cases. We don’t know when he’ll be available for a fight.”
Donaire said if Haymon and Brown agree, he can be in Connecticut by Wednesday bringing with him two qualitative NAAT negative results to disprove his previous positive. “I want to prove everybody wrong,” he said. “I hope they respect my basic human right to make a living. It’s not fair that my fight was cancelled on the basis of one positive result. I’ve tested negative twice before that and thrice more after.” Rachel said Donaire once had a switch in opponents with three days’ notice so reinstating him to fight Rodriguez shouldn’t be an issue. The Showtime network apparently is backing Donaire’s appeal but Haymon and Brown, who bought the telecast rights, have the final say on the matter.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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