Mayweather: “My new terms [for blood testing] are all the way up to the fight” for Pacquiao bout

By Dave Lahr: If WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO’s) wants a fight with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KO’s), then he better be prepared to undergo Olympic style blood testing all the way up until the fight, and not just until 14 days before the fight. In an article by Michael Marley at Examiner.com Mayweather says “I have him [Pacquiao] a chance, up to 14 days out [during their last failed negotiations in February]. But my new terms are all the way up to the fight. They can come get use whenever, all the way up to the fight, random drug test. That’s what it is.”

I’m proud of Mayweather for taking that stance. Pacquiao had his chance at getting a 2 week window without drug testing during the last negations but he blew it by insisting on wanting the blood testing to stop 24 days before the fight. Mayweather was willing to have the testing stop at 14 days. Instead, Pacquiao chose to fight Joshua Clottey in Texas and only ended up with 700,000 pay per view buys for that fight. Mayweather moved on for a mega fight with Shane Mosley and brought in twice Pacquiao’s PPV numbers with 1.4 million PPV buys.

In an article at Philstar.com, Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz, had this to say about the drug testing: “We’ve already agreed to all the terms, from the venue to the purse and to other concessions like Manny Pacquiao climbing the ring first, when Mayweather started making demands for random blood testing.” The problem with that is that was the old negations before Mayweather’s fight with Mosley and before he brought in the great PPV numbers for that fight. Mayweather looked sensational in beating Mosley, a fighter who is considered the number #3 welterweight in the world by many boxing fans. Mayweather beat Mosley with ease.

Pacquiao recently gave in on the blood testing, in part, by agreeing to take the tests up until 14 days before the fight. I respect Pacquiao for doing that. It’s not easy to swallow your pride and give in on things. Unfortunately, Pacquiao waited too long to agree to that number because Mayweather looked magnificent in beating Mosley and many people now are considering Mayweather as the number #1 fighter in boxing. If Pacquiao wants the fight, he’s going to have to give into what Mayweather is asking for. That’s the just the way it is. Mayweather showed his greatness in the Mosley fight and now the whole world is at his feet. Naturally, he would then change his requests for the random blood testing. I don’t blame him one bit and I have a massive amount of respect for the man now more than ever.

Pacquiao needs to make a decision. Does he want to face his fear of having blood taken from him close to the fight in order to enhance his legacy or does he want to move on and end his boxing career against one of Arum’s Top Rank fighters like Antonio Margarito, Yuri Foreman or Miguel Cotto. If he can’t the blood tests the way Mayweather wants him to, then Pacquiao might as well have Arum sign him up for a fight against Margarito or one of the other Top Rank fighters.