ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Less than a week after heavyweight Tommy Morrison tested positive for HIV, Floyd Patterson, chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, said Wednesday the state would begin testing boxers for the AIDS virus.
Asked why the state had waited until now to institute testing, Patterson, in a startling comment on a disease first identified more than a decade ago, said: ``AIDS just came out. I go back to the '50s. I fought for 23 years. There was no AIDS. I just heard of AIDS a few weeks ago.''
Patterson, the former two-time heavyweight champion and chairman of the commission since last summer, was appointed to a full term last week by the state legislature. He said testing would begin as soon as possible.
The only other states that screen boxers for HIV are Nevada, where Morrison was tested, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.
LENGTH: Short : 26 linesby CNB