By Dave Lahr: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum thinks that 14 days of no random blood testing is reasonable, according to Yahoo Sports. Arum says “Fourteen days should give them [the United States Anti-Doping Agency] plenty of time to do what they need to do, especially in light of what they did with Mayweather and Mosley.” I don’t agree with Arum. I think the blood testing should go all the way up until the day of the fight in the textbook version of random blood testing. How can you have a 14 day window of no drug testing? What is that?

It was learned today that the USADA last tested Mayweather 18 days before his fight with Shane Mosley and Mosley was tested 19 days before their May 1st bout. However, it matter little for a future fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Just because blood testing was stopped at 18 or 19 days before the Mosley-Mayweather fight doesn’t mean that testing shouldn’t go within 14 days of the fight. Pacquiao said yesterday that he’s willing to have blood testing take up until 14 days before the fight, which was what Mayweather asked for during his previous negations with Pacquiao.

However, according to Kevin Iole’s article at Yahoo Sports, the Chief Executive Officer of USADA, Travis Tygart, sees things differently, saying “That totally misses the point [talking about Pacquiao’s 14 day concession]. If you know you aren’t going to be tested within the last 14 days, you can cheat and get away with it. It is out right to test at any time, 30 days before the fight, 20 days before, the week of, the morning of – that provides the deterrent. If you block out a period of time and say we can’t test during that period, then an athlete could cheat and get away with it.”

Bravo, Mr. Tygart, I totally agree with you. You can’t just let the testing to stop at 2 weeks before the fight, because in theory, one of the two fighters could start a small cycle of Human Growth Hormone or Anabolic Steroids and put on some good size and strength during that two week cycle. This is why both fighters need to be tested at any time up until the fight. It’s the only way to be sure that the fight is held on an even playing field. Its one thing for both fighters to say that they’ve never taken performance enhancing drugs but you have to be sure, don’t you? As U.S. former president Ronald Reagan once said, “Trust but verify.” I don’t agree with that saying.

Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, speaking about the random blood testing, says “Random is random. It could be at any time. That’s what random means. I will say this: If and when Floyd Mayweather decides to fight again, random blood and urine testing will be part of it. Period.” Here here, I totally agree with you, Mr. Ellerbe. I’m all for drug testing. Let’s clean up boxing.