Report: Mayweather used IV drip before Pacquiao fight

By Boxing News - 09/10/2015 - Comments

Floyd Mayweather JrBy Allan Fox: It’s being reported that Floyd Mayweather Jr. allegedly used an IV drip the day before his May 2nd fight against the Philippines’ Manny Pacquiao to help rehydrate before the big “Fight of the Century” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The USADA made a statement saying that Mayweather informed them about the IV drip infusion before he started, and they in turn passed this information along to both the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Manny Pacquiao.

Here’s Floyd Mayweather Jr’s statement on the IV drip mess:

“As already confirmed by the USADA Statement, I did not commit any violations of the Nevada or USADA drug testing guidelines. I follow and have always followed the rules of Nevada and USADA, the gold standard of drug testing. Let’s not forget that I was the one six years ago who insisted on elevating the level of drug testing for all my fights. As a result, there is more drug testing and awareness of its importance in the sport of boxing today than ever before. I am very proud to be a clean athlete and will continue to champion the cause.”

The fight broke pay-per-view records in bringing in over 4.4 million buys. Pacquiao was beaten by a 12 round unanimous decision. The Mayweather needed the IV drip to rehydrate, according to SB Nation.

The IV drip was said to have administered vitamins and a saline solution.

USADA informed the Nevada State Athletic Commission about the IV drip on May 21.

The IV drip was discovered the night before the fight on May 1st, when a person from USADA came over to Mayweather’s house in Las Vegas for a random drug test.

Here’s the USADA’s statement via Dan Rafael of ESPN.com:

“Although Mr. Mayweather’s application was not approved until after his fight with Mr. Pacquiao and all tests results were reported, Mr. Mayweather did disclose the infusion to USADA in advance of the IV being administered to him. Furthermore, once the TUE [therapeutic use exemption] was granted, the NSAC and Mr. Pacquiao were immediately notified even though the practice is not prohibited under NSAC rules.”

Mayweather received a mixture of saline and multi-vitamins in a 250 milliliter mixture and another 500 millimeter mixture of saline and vitamin C. The reason for the IV drip was to rehydrate Mayweather. He had weighed in earlier in the day at the weigh-in.

WADA usually limits IV fluids to 50ml during a six hour period. The 750ml then would be for over the limit. The only exception WADA makes in allowing more than 50ml per six hour time frame is for “hospital admissions, surgical procedures and clinical investigations,” according to ESPN.com.

The Nevada Commission didn’t allow Pacquiao use the anti-inflammatory drug Toradol before the fight when he requested it for his injured shoulder. The reason why the Commission denied Pacquiao the use of the drug was because they weren’t informed of the shoulder injury ahead of time. They only found out the night of the fight. Pacquiao later had surgery on his injured shoulder to repair a torn rotator cuff.

It’s unknown if this report will lead to a cry from fans for a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch, but it wouldn’t be surprising. This might drive interest for a rematch.



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