By Chris Williams: Fellow training partner of Manny Pacquiao, World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan thinks that Pacquiao is a clean fighter and not using any performance enhancing drugs.
Some people have questioned whether Pacquiao might be using PEDs because of the success that he’d had in being able to move up in weight and beat the best fighters at light welterweight and now welterweight. In 2008, Pacquiao was a super featherweight. He has since moved up three weight divisions and has fought largely the best fighters in each weight class as he’s moved up in weight and dominated them in every case.
Some people don’t see that as natural and feel that Pacquiao might have had help. Floyd Mayweather Jr. wanted Pacquiao to agree to take the Olympic style random blood tests before he would fight him. Pacquiao agreed to the tests, but wanted the tests cut off in the final weeks of the fight because it got in the way of his training by causing him to feel weak afterwards. Pacquiao has no problem with taking the urine tests which are the current method for testing for performance enhancing drugs in the U.S., but is less comfortable with having his blood drawn unless it’s well before the fight or immediately after the bout.
Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao, but has insisted on the Filipino star agreeing to take the Olympic style random blood tests. The tests are a requirement at this time in Nevada, Texas or New York, some of the places where a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao could wind up in the future. Pacquiao doesn’t like the idea of Mayweather trying to call the shots and push him around and wants to go along with the current rules of the athletic commissions. As of now, only urine is tested, so if Pacquiao was to agree to more, it would be an agreement between him and Mayweather. But on the flip side, the weight penalty that Pacquiao wanted to have in his contract with Mayweather, which stipulated that there would be a $10 million penalty for each pound over the weight limit also isn’t something that the athletic commission has any rules on. It would come down to the fighters agreeing to it or not.
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