"The Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather welterweight title megafight, tentatively scheduled for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, is in jeopardy. According to Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Mayweather, Pacquiao refused Tuesday to agree to the Olympic-style drug testing procedures the sides had been negotiating.
Mayweather requested that the drug testing for the fight be in compliance with the United States Anti Doping Agency, which handles drug testing for Olympians, "to ensure fair play and sportsmanship by both fighters."
Floyd Mayweather Sr., the fighter's father, has repeatedly accused Pacquiao of taking illegal substances, even though Pacquiao denies it and he has never failed a drug test. According to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who is negotiating the deal with Top Rank president Todd duBoef, Pacquiao refuses to have his blood drawn within 30 days of the bout based on his superstition of testing so close to a fight.
"Todd told me that Pacquiao has difficulty with taking blood and doesn't want to do it so close to the fight," Schaefer said. "He, Pacquiao, would only agree to have blood drawn before the kick-off press conference and after the fight."
Told of Pacquiao's reluctance to be tested, Mayweather said he should explain himself.
"I understand Pacquiao not liking having his blood taken because, frankly, I don't know anyone who really does," Mayweather said in a statement. "But in a fight of this magnitude, I think it is our responsibility to subject ourselves to sportsmanship at the highest level. I have already agreed to the testing and it is a shame that he is not willing to do the same. It leaves me with great doubt as to the level of fairness I would be facing in the ring that night.
"I hope that this is either some miscommunication or that Manny will change his mind and step up and allow these tests, which were good enough for all these other great athletes, to be performed by USADA (ESPN)."
I honestly can't believe this story. Pacquiao was becoming a hero of mine, and if he won this fight he would go down as the best pound for pound fighter of all time, but you don't refuse this kind of drug testing unless you got something to hide. I hope it is just a "miscommunication", but I doubt it. I was going to root for Pacquiao in this fight, but now I hope Mayweather whoops the shit out of him. I'll lose all respect for Pacquiao if he is a steroid user, or refuses tests further...
What a blow it for be for the Philippines (and Mexico). There isn't really a lot of Filipino heroes, and if Pacquiao ends up being just another fraud it would be heart breaking for the entire area.
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