Pacquiao – Mayweather: Facts about drug testing

By Boxing News - 07/15/2011 - Comments

By John F. McKenna (McJack): The drug testing for a potential fight between Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) and Floyd “Money” Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO’s) is much more complicated than it would appear to be at first glance. Boxing fans have been clamoring for such a Mega Fight between the two superstars for the past couple of years.

Fans of both Pacquiao and Mayweather are very passionate about their favorite fighter and equally passionate about the criticism they heap on the potential opponent if such a fight were to take place.

The impediment and hold up which prevents the Pacquiao – Mayweather fight from happening, as everyone knows is the Olympic style random drug testing that Floyd Mayweather has been insisting on. “Money” in his effort to clean up boxing has stated time and again that he will not fight Pacquiao, or anyone else, unless they submit to random drug testing. It has been pointed out many times that no boxing commission demands the stringent testing that Mayweather is insisting on. Pacquiao has thus far refused to take such a test, which has led many boxing fans particularly Mayweather’s to be suspicious. Floyd even came out with a tee shirt which proclaims in large letters “Take the test”.

The USADA is the testing agency in the USA which would most likely be the testing agency that Floyd Mayweather would want to use, since that agency has been used in the past by Mayweather.

Unfortunately things are not as simple as they seem to be and there are many points to consider. The USADA does not have any jurisdiction to do testing in the Philippines, which is where Manny Pacquiao would do much of his training.

Also there is the question of conflict of interest. USADA’s Travis Tygart has affiliated himself with Mayweather, even proclaiming him a “clean fighter” before any of the testing was done prior to the Mayweather – Mosley fight.

USADA testing is not foolproof unless it is done 24/7 365 days a year. Mayweather for his part, hand picked the USADA to do the testing for his fights.

Mayweather has done much to fuel the speculation that Pacquiao is a drug cheater. He maintains that he was a great fighter right from the start, even as an amateur, while Pacquiao did not become great until later in his career.

It is quite clear that Mayweather is insinuating that Pacquiao has cheated to get where he is as a fighter. It is also clear that Floyd, through dodging the deposition in the defamation lawsuit brought against him by Manny, has no proof whatsoever to prove that this insinuations are true.



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