The random tests of urine samples taken from middleweights Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on July 11 have returned negative in advance of their HBO-televised clash on Sept. 15. 
A Saturday press conference is in the works for smack-talkers Adrien Broner and Paulie Malignaggi.
Martinez, Chavez Jr. test negative
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The unannounced drug tests sprung on RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. and WBC beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on July 11 returned negative on Thursday, according to Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The tests were the first of possibly more "purely discretionary" procedures that could happen in advance of the Martinez-Chavez HBO Pay Per View-televised clash for the belt belonging to Chavez Jr. that is slated for Sept. 15 at The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Kizer said that the fighters' urine samples were examined at Quest Labs in Lenexa, Kansas, and tested "for anabolic steroids, masking agents and diuretics." "They're tested for dozens of prohibited substances," said Kizer. "They're tested for all of that, and they came back negative for the masking agents, diuretics and anabolic steroids." Chavez Jr. was suspended for seven months by the NSAC in the wake of a positive drug test for a diuretic following a unanimous-decision win over Troy Rowland in November of 2009. Prior to Martinez and Chavez jr., the last time the random procedure was used for a major boxing event was in March for Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s unanimous-decision win against Miguel Cotto.
Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com |