By Gari Jones: There’s talk that Mayweather will return on May 5th 2012 and that Pacquiao is the man he’s lining (source ESPN and AFP). I seriously hope so; It’s one of the longest if not the longest running saga in the history of boxing. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have had people’s heads spinning in all directions for nearly two years and I’m just about sick and tired of it. All these sites and their opinions, wild accusations, crazy theories are mostly based on misleading quotes or distortions of the facts.

Accusations like Money, Olympic Drug Testing, Pacquiao a fraud, Mayweather scared of losing the 0, 50-50 or 60-40 split, they don’t need each other to secure a legacy etc, are just some of the random nonsense I read about. Fact is no one can really explain why this fight hasn’t happened yet, there are so many issues on the subject you could write an entire novel on it. All I can do is try to make sense of it all by using some common logic.

Money Saga Issue: 50/50 or each fighter wants the bigger share – 60:40 etc

To say this fight hasn’t happen yet due to money is just pure nonsense the public interest in this one would smash all the previous PPV buys big time. Both fighters have already been offered a huge sum of money ranging between 40-50 million dollars and a 50/50 split was always agreed to but both parties actually turned it down( WHY? – WHO KNOWS FOR SURE). (Source Google News, ESPN, SKY SPORTS and Opposing Views.com there are many more on this)

Legacy Issue: They don’t or no longer need each other to secure a legacy.

First off that is not for them to decide, this issue is for the fans to decide. A boxer must earn the fans respect that is the key to gaining a legacy. Whilst both have enjoyed huge success and fought many top contenders if they REALLY want to compare themselves to the all time greats like Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson. You have to fight the best and listen to the public. Fans want Pacquiao and Mayweather the top two recognised P4P (pound for pound) best fighters in the world. People can say all they want that Pacquiao or Mayweather was better, but until these two actually fight each other, then no one really knows and if you say otherwise then I say you have no COMMON SENSE.

PED’s (Performance Enhancing Drugs): Pacquiao accused of taking PED’s (what about Mayweather though)

Because of the DRUG TESTING ISSUE’S people find reasons to agree that Pacquiao must be using PED’s because of his accomplishments and performances and that he won’t fight Mayweather for fear of getting caught. It’s been said that Pacquiao started his boxing career at 106lbs and now fights at 145lbs (39lbs bigger) (Source Wikipedia, GMANEWS and BoxRec.com) and that it must mean he has been using PED’s as it explains his increase his size over the years. Now as daft as that sounds I could say the same of Floyd; both have enjoyed massive success and both started their careers young at 106lbs and now fight professionally at 145- 150bs (source Wikipedia, BoxRec and boxing.about.com).

The fact that these two men from 16 year olds, have naturally grown up over the years, changes in diets, metabolism, training methods and lifestyle, have naturally altered their appearance. Bear in mind these two have been fighting professionally for over 15-16 years, I don’t believe that any of these two have dabbled in any PED’s to boost their athleticism.

Olympic Style Drug Testing: The issue that has become the focus of all issues relating to this fight

Under the Nevada State Athletic Commission, all boxers are required to give a urine sample post fight for the purpose of testing for anabolic steroids and annual blood tests for licensing and routine infections screenings. In October 2010 the NSAC made several changes to the way in which they do drug and doping test’s, one such change was requiring additional analysis to blood tests that may indicate use of performance-enhancing drugs (source MMAfighting.com).

The trouble is that this is not routine and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have criticized the NASC for not having adequate drug testing (Source MMAjunkie.com). Olympic style drug testing is structured, blood and urine would be tested normally 28, 14, 7 days leading up to the fight plus before and after the fight. According to Dr. Margaret Goodman, the chief ringside physician for the state of Nevada until 2005 says PED’s are best detected if blood and urine samples are taken moments before and after a fight (Source Askmen/sports.com).

This is where the issue between Pacquiao and Mayweather gets confusing. Pacquiao and the camp agreed to the testing up to 14 days before the fight and post fight. According to other reports Mayweather demanded constant daily testing sometimes even more than once in a day. Whilst I cannot confirm any of these reports (due to the overwhelming number of conflicting stories) all I can do is offer some COMMON SENSE.

The length of time that is given before to perform any blood or urine test of this kind shouldn’t be an issue. If an Olympic style blood and urine test were conducted 30 days before a fight and straight after, the test would confirm that someone had used PED’s. Unlike urine, blood can reveal if there’s evidence of drug use by analyzing the bodily functions that may have been altered even though the particular drug used is no longer present (Source USAToday.com).

That being said it makes me wonder why Floyd would be so insistent on daily testing. He knows all too well Pacquiao under these rules couldn’t possibly get any PED’s out of his system in the alleged 14 days they supposedly agreed to. The drugs Olympic Testing looks for are human growth hormones (HGH), tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), which are used to aid movement up and down the weight divisions, erythropoietin (EPO) and androstenedione. These steroids are known to increase body mass, oxygen intake and the ability to recover more quickly after training.

Pacquiao said he has agreed to the tests and given his high stamina and work rate, I doubt he’d agree if anyone of these substances were in his system. And the fact Mayweather asks for the tests I doubt he’s a user either. Why this fight hasn’t happen yet only those two know but I hope you having read this article some of the rumours and misunderstandings have been cleared up.

Please comment I appreciate any feedback, criticize if you must but make it constructive.