By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum reportedly may ask Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao to have random drug tests for their possible rematch in September 2013, according to Philboxing.com. The random blood tests aren’t required for fights that tale place in Nevada or Texas, two of the locations that Arum may consider placing the Pacquiao-Marquez 5 fight.
Since it’s not a requirement from the states that Arum wants to stage the fight, I don’t see any reason why Marquez should have to agree to this extra testing. If some fighters like WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire want to take the testing for themselves then more power to him, but Marquez shouldn’t have to agree to taking the tests.
If this turns out to be the case and Arum does request that Pacquiao and Marquez agree to the blood testing before they can fight again the you have to ask why do they suddenly want random blood tests for a Pacquiao-Marquez fifth fight when they never had it in their four previous fights? I don’t understand it. Pacquiao gets knocked out cold by Marquez last December and now Arum wants blood testing for a Pacquiao-Marquez 5th fight?
I wouldn’t agree to it if I were Marquez because why would Arum want blood testing after Marquez’s win? Marquez wasn’t demanding blood testing after he lost two controversial 12 round decisions to Pacquiao in 2008 and 2011, was he? Arum wasn’t asking for blood testing after his fighter Pacquiao won those fights over Marquez, so why would he all of a sudden start asking for blood testing after Marquez’s victory? I don’t like it, and I wouldn’t agree to it if I were Marquez. I don’t like the timing of the tests with it coming after Marquez’s victory.
If I’m Marquez’s promoter I’m saying no to the tests. They didn’t have before after Pacquiao’s victories, so why should they have one after Marquez’s? If Arum really wants Marquez as an opponent for Pacquiao, he won’t be able to push the tests through if Marquez says no. If Arum feels strongly enough about the tests then he can take Pacquiao in another direction in a smaller fight against one of his Top Rank stable fighters like Brandon Rios, but the fight won’t make the same kind of money that a Pacquiao-Marquez 5th fight would.
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