LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Manny Pacquiao is fighting mad, and taking on Floyd Mayweather jnr in court even as a potential blockbuster bout between the two is on the ropes.
Filipino hero Pacquiao filed a lawsuit in federal court in Las Vegas on Wednesday alleging that Mayweather and others defamed him by falsely saying Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs.
"Calling a professional athlete a cheater is the most serious charge one can make," the lawsuit says, "and in today's world, accusing an athlete of using performance-enhancing drugs - however baseless and lacking in evidence - is toxic."
Pacquiao has been angered by the Mayweather camp's insistence on doping control blood tests in the buildup to their welterweight showdown - a demand that has the March 13 fight in doubt.
Mayweather has said the blood tests, which could detect substances not found by urine tests, are vital to ensure a fair fight, although blood tests are not routinely used in boxing.
Pacquiao - who says he fears having blood drawn less than 30 days before the fight would 'weaken' him - has taken exception to the demand and to comments made by the Mayweather camp in media interviews.
His lawsuit asks for damages in excess of 75,000 dollars and names Mayweather, his father, Floyd snr, and uncle Roger Mayweather as defendants. Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer, who operate Golden Boy Promotions and are promoting Mayweather, are also named as having "stated publicly that Pacquiao has used and is using performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids."
The lawsuit cites several interviews given by the Mayweather camp, including the unbeaten US boxer's comments in a radio interview in October about Pacquiao's physical development, when he said: "cause we know the Philippines got the best enhancing drugs."
Also quoted in the suit were Mayweather's remarks published in the british newspaper The Guardian, in which Mayweather said he had "great doubt as to the level of fairness I would be facing in the ring that night."
"The truth did not stop Mayweather and the others," the suit alleges. "That is because they are motivated by ill will, spite, malice, revenge and envy."
Pacquiao, who has supplanted Mayweather in the estimation of many as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, has earned titles in seven weight classes.
Their fight could bring each as much as 40 million dollars, and it had appeared to be virtually set after squabbles were settled over issues including the division of the purse and the type of gloves to be used.
The dope test procedures, however, have proved a sticking point.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum is preparing to open negotiations with World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman as talks with Mayweather falter.
Arum, contacted by the newspaper while on vacation in Mexico, sounded pessimistic that Pacquaio-Mayweather would happen on March 13.
"This is only my opinion, but I don't see the fight happening now," he told the Times. "Positions are hardening ... Manny's fit to be tied. He's very angry."
Arum acknowledged there could still be a breakthrough, but said: "It might be best to visit this fight later in 2010."
Source: google.com
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Q&A with HBO's Larry Merchant
If recent history is a guide, especially the last three decades, making big fights takes patience. No one knows that any better than HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant, who has intervened in an effort to help bridge the divide between Manny Pacquiao Floyd Mayweather. Negotiations are at a standstill because of Mayweather wants random blood testing — not required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission which only tests urine. Pacquiao has agreed to three blood tests instead. Merchant, who has been with HBO since 1978, recently talked with USA TODAY's J. Michael Falgoust:
When negotiations came to a sudden halt, after it appeared March 13 in Las Vegas was all but a certainty, what were your thoughts?
I thought it was just some gamesmanship by Mayweather who has a certain talent for mind games with opponents, creating conflict to help promote events. It appears that it has spiraled out of control. I couldn't imagine why. First of all, since he thinks he's going to win the fight and second of all because he's going to make upwards of 30 million or 40 million dollars, how could you take it seriously?
They seem serious about it. Almost as if they were saying Pacquiao can't be this good on his own. Now it's seems like it's a bloodbath. There's no precedent for fighters who have already decided how to divide the money then find issues that would break up a huge event. It's hard to take seriously even if it appears to be serious.
Do you think Golden Boy Promotions' demand for random blood testing is reasonable?
I see no indications that Pacquiao is anything but an exceptional, elite fighter. There are many precedents in boxing of smaller fighters to move up in weight division and be successful later in their careers.
(Golden Boy president) Oscar De La Hoya himself started out as a 130-pound titleholder and wound up fighting middleweights which is 30 pounds north of that. It seems like its some sort of ploy. But if both sides take it seriously and both sides see it as a test of their will. And then you get involved with personal issues, then maybe it's more out of control than anybody could imagine.
Old feuds have gotten into this between Mayweather and (Pacquiao's promoter Bob) Arum and Arum and De La Hoya. I've always looked upon these types of negotiations as a kind of ritual of dominance. 'I can impose my will on you in the negotiations, therefore I can impose my will on you in the fight.'
Pacquiao turned pro at 106 pounds, but he was only 16 years old. Is it that uncommon for a fighter to compete in multiple divisions, especially with all the sport's "junior" divisions?
Henry Armstrong turned pro at 120. He also fought for a middleweight championship. Alexis Arguello was a bantamweight when he started as a 16-year-old but he wound up fighting in the 140s. Ted "Kid" Lewis started as a bantamweight, and after winning the welterweight championship wound up fighting the top light heavyweights in the world. There are guys who are exceptions to the rule. Pacquiao fights in the low '40s. That means he has breakfast and lunch before the weigh-in where most fighters eat lightly, if at all. He's done a few amazing things. It's not like he's going around knocking everybody stiff with one punch. He's a boxer-puncher who has won on his boxing ability and his quickness. He hit De La Hoya with a flurry of 50 or 60 clean punches and never knocked him down. He's not Superman's son. He's just a helluva fighter who has captured the imagination of the fight world and become a kind of international cultural figure who transcends the sport.
What are the chances this fight happens in 2010?
(Bernard) Hopkins and (Roy) Jones were negotiating for a decade it seemed for a rematch from their 1993 fight. But that was about money. I don't think the boxing world grieves over the fact that it didn't get made. There's so much money involved here, even if irrationality triumphs over rationality, I think eventually the fight will get made. If they can't come to terms for a March fight then I think it'll happen at some later date. I think by the end of the holidays cooler heads will come to a compromise.
After Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto, there was a positive energy looking ahead to him facing Mayweather. While this still would be a megafight, the headlines have a more negative tone. Does that matter?
There was a certain momentum that was moving along at a furious pace. The fact of the matter is, everybody except Pacquiao would prefer the fight to happen later now. The March date was picked out because he's running for political office in May (in the Philippines) and didn't want to fight after the middle of March. It would still be a huge event. Could it lose some of its mojo? Who knows. Maybe so. There's a great deal excitement and awareness about the fight right now.
It seems to be a virtual certainty to break all revenue records. The last fight below heavyweight that created this type of interest was the first pay-per-view fight that was (Ray) Leonard and (Thomas) Hearns. That fight was talked about for well over a year before it happened. People couldn't wait for it to happen. They just let it cook for a while and build up momentum. There's a lot of heat that's been built up around this match.
You tried to help out both sides by asking Sen. John McCain to mediate the dispute?
I suggested they should bring in Senator McCain to arbitrate because he's a regular at big fights. He himself was an amateur fighter at Annapolis in the Navy. Everybody agreed except Pacquiao. I can understand Pacquiao's point: Who's Senator McCain? He's an American politician. He's being insulted and accused of wrongdoing because he's so good.
Source: usatoday.com
When negotiations came to a sudden halt, after it appeared March 13 in Las Vegas was all but a certainty, what were your thoughts?
I thought it was just some gamesmanship by Mayweather who has a certain talent for mind games with opponents, creating conflict to help promote events. It appears that it has spiraled out of control. I couldn't imagine why. First of all, since he thinks he's going to win the fight and second of all because he's going to make upwards of 30 million or 40 million dollars, how could you take it seriously?
They seem serious about it. Almost as if they were saying Pacquiao can't be this good on his own. Now it's seems like it's a bloodbath. There's no precedent for fighters who have already decided how to divide the money then find issues that would break up a huge event. It's hard to take seriously even if it appears to be serious.
Do you think Golden Boy Promotions' demand for random blood testing is reasonable?
I see no indications that Pacquiao is anything but an exceptional, elite fighter. There are many precedents in boxing of smaller fighters to move up in weight division and be successful later in their careers.
(Golden Boy president) Oscar De La Hoya himself started out as a 130-pound titleholder and wound up fighting middleweights which is 30 pounds north of that. It seems like its some sort of ploy. But if both sides take it seriously and both sides see it as a test of their will. And then you get involved with personal issues, then maybe it's more out of control than anybody could imagine.
Old feuds have gotten into this between Mayweather and (Pacquiao's promoter Bob) Arum and Arum and De La Hoya. I've always looked upon these types of negotiations as a kind of ritual of dominance. 'I can impose my will on you in the negotiations, therefore I can impose my will on you in the fight.'
Pacquiao turned pro at 106 pounds, but he was only 16 years old. Is it that uncommon for a fighter to compete in multiple divisions, especially with all the sport's "junior" divisions?
Henry Armstrong turned pro at 120. He also fought for a middleweight championship. Alexis Arguello was a bantamweight when he started as a 16-year-old but he wound up fighting in the 140s. Ted "Kid" Lewis started as a bantamweight, and after winning the welterweight championship wound up fighting the top light heavyweights in the world. There are guys who are exceptions to the rule. Pacquiao fights in the low '40s. That means he has breakfast and lunch before the weigh-in where most fighters eat lightly, if at all. He's done a few amazing things. It's not like he's going around knocking everybody stiff with one punch. He's a boxer-puncher who has won on his boxing ability and his quickness. He hit De La Hoya with a flurry of 50 or 60 clean punches and never knocked him down. He's not Superman's son. He's just a helluva fighter who has captured the imagination of the fight world and become a kind of international cultural figure who transcends the sport.
What are the chances this fight happens in 2010?
(Bernard) Hopkins and (Roy) Jones were negotiating for a decade it seemed for a rematch from their 1993 fight. But that was about money. I don't think the boxing world grieves over the fact that it didn't get made. There's so much money involved here, even if irrationality triumphs over rationality, I think eventually the fight will get made. If they can't come to terms for a March fight then I think it'll happen at some later date. I think by the end of the holidays cooler heads will come to a compromise.
After Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto, there was a positive energy looking ahead to him facing Mayweather. While this still would be a megafight, the headlines have a more negative tone. Does that matter?
There was a certain momentum that was moving along at a furious pace. The fact of the matter is, everybody except Pacquiao would prefer the fight to happen later now. The March date was picked out because he's running for political office in May (in the Philippines) and didn't want to fight after the middle of March. It would still be a huge event. Could it lose some of its mojo? Who knows. Maybe so. There's a great deal excitement and awareness about the fight right now.
It seems to be a virtual certainty to break all revenue records. The last fight below heavyweight that created this type of interest was the first pay-per-view fight that was (Ray) Leonard and (Thomas) Hearns. That fight was talked about for well over a year before it happened. People couldn't wait for it to happen. They just let it cook for a while and build up momentum. There's a lot of heat that's been built up around this match.
You tried to help out both sides by asking Sen. John McCain to mediate the dispute?
I suggested they should bring in Senator McCain to arbitrate because he's a regular at big fights. He himself was an amateur fighter at Annapolis in the Navy. Everybody agreed except Pacquiao. I can understand Pacquiao's point: Who's Senator McCain? He's an American politician. He's being insulted and accused of wrongdoing because he's so good.
Source: usatoday.com
2009's Final Thought On The State Of Pacquiao vs. Mayweather
Does Floyd Mayweather Jr. believe inside that he'll beat Manny Pacquiao when and if they fight? Yes. But does he know it's a lock? No. And does he now know after seeing Miguel Cotto catch Pacquiao with his Sunday left-hook to the head and body that it's likely he'll have to go the distance and win a decision? You better believe it.
So what do you do when you are fighting a guy and mentally you acknowledge you're going to have life and death with him for 12-rounds? He happens to be a fighter who doesn't slow down and is going to be a dangerous threat to you all night. In addition to that you have no angles, and no advantages physically or mentally over your opponent? As a matter of fact for the first time in your career you might be on the short end of the decision if the fight is close because the other guy is the draw and the HBO guy.
When faced with that, you do just what Mayweather and his associates have done, and that's try to get to the opponent mentally by creating and manufacturing a controversy. The HGH/steroid issue regarding Pacquiao is nothing more than a smoke screen with the hope of Mayweather trying to gain a mental advantage. Only this time unlike when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez who had no leverage and couldn't stop Mayweather from getting over on him at the weigh in Pacquiao can tell Floyd to go take a hike and make other fights that will add to his bank account and legacy quite handsomely, options that Mayweather doesn't really have, at least not nearly to the degree in which Pacquiao does.
The problem Mayweather has in dealing with and trying to make a fight with Pacquiao is he doesn't own any meaningful leverage inside or outside of the ring over him. By virtue of the way he's conducted his career outside of the ring and ordered basically from boxing's a la carte menu, Floyd's not afforded any benefit of the doubt. That's not an anti-Floyd perspective. It's an honest perspective unless you write for a certain Michigan paper that affords Mayweather every excuse at his disposal. Or you're such a biased Mayweather fan and will defend anything he does to hold up the fight as he paints his opponent in an unflattering manner.
Unfortunately for Floyd Mayweather Jr. he can't have his way and stack the deck in his favor at the negotiating table so he has the edge in the ring in one form or another on fight night. Because his potential opponent is managed by the guy who taught Mayweather how to play the boxing game and has an answer and counter for everything team Mayweather tries to pull. On top of that Bob Arum knows he has in Manny Pacquiao the more marketable fighter who has compiled the more impressive body of work historically and creates more excitement in the ring when he fights.
Having said that Floyd is making the most out of the least and knows that he is the biggest fight out there monetarily for Pacquiao and Arum. That's why he's pushing all the buttons he can to create false controversies that aren't there. Mayweather will string this along for awhile and pretty soon he'll come up with something that indicates Pacquiao is either an android or a being from another planet disguised as a man impersonating a fighter and therefore must be thoroughly tested from head to toe.
Which says team Mayweather must really be impressed by Pacquiao's body of work over his last three or four fights. Which is more than I'm willing to give Manny as good as he's looked recently. I can think of more than a handful of great lightweights and welterweights from past eras that I'd consider overwhelming favorites to beat him.
Eventually team Mayweather is going to have to make a decision as to whether they stop the subterfuge and sign for a legitimate super-fight or Floyd retires undefeated. Mayweather is in a tough spot being the way he thinks. He loves money and a fight with Pacquiao would be like Fort Knox, yet on the other hand he loves saying he's undefeated and "who have beat me?" Obviously Pacquiao is the first fighter who he's contemplated fighting who he's not absolutely sure he can't lose to.
The answer to who has beat him is easy to refute in an historical sense. When reviewing Floyd's won-loss record, what stands out more than anything else are not the names on it, but it's more the names of fighters who are not on it on either side of the column.
Hopefully the games end soon and Mayweather and Pacquiao agree to some form of testing and sign to meet at 147 with the weigh in being the day before the fight.
At this time I don't believe Pacquiao is taking anything illegal, but his unwillingness to give in to all type of testing has somewhat created a slight cloud of suspicion. And if it does come out that he's used any form of illegal PEDs, (regardless that it's not a given that they add to a fighter's performance) the last few years of his career must come under suspicion and Floyd Mayweather is the manager and fighter of the decade.
Source: thesweetscience.com
So what do you do when you are fighting a guy and mentally you acknowledge you're going to have life and death with him for 12-rounds? He happens to be a fighter who doesn't slow down and is going to be a dangerous threat to you all night. In addition to that you have no angles, and no advantages physically or mentally over your opponent? As a matter of fact for the first time in your career you might be on the short end of the decision if the fight is close because the other guy is the draw and the HBO guy.
When faced with that, you do just what Mayweather and his associates have done, and that's try to get to the opponent mentally by creating and manufacturing a controversy. The HGH/steroid issue regarding Pacquiao is nothing more than a smoke screen with the hope of Mayweather trying to gain a mental advantage. Only this time unlike when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez who had no leverage and couldn't stop Mayweather from getting over on him at the weigh in Pacquiao can tell Floyd to go take a hike and make other fights that will add to his bank account and legacy quite handsomely, options that Mayweather doesn't really have, at least not nearly to the degree in which Pacquiao does.
The problem Mayweather has in dealing with and trying to make a fight with Pacquiao is he doesn't own any meaningful leverage inside or outside of the ring over him. By virtue of the way he's conducted his career outside of the ring and ordered basically from boxing's a la carte menu, Floyd's not afforded any benefit of the doubt. That's not an anti-Floyd perspective. It's an honest perspective unless you write for a certain Michigan paper that affords Mayweather every excuse at his disposal. Or you're such a biased Mayweather fan and will defend anything he does to hold up the fight as he paints his opponent in an unflattering manner.
Unfortunately for Floyd Mayweather Jr. he can't have his way and stack the deck in his favor at the negotiating table so he has the edge in the ring in one form or another on fight night. Because his potential opponent is managed by the guy who taught Mayweather how to play the boxing game and has an answer and counter for everything team Mayweather tries to pull. On top of that Bob Arum knows he has in Manny Pacquiao the more marketable fighter who has compiled the more impressive body of work historically and creates more excitement in the ring when he fights.
Having said that Floyd is making the most out of the least and knows that he is the biggest fight out there monetarily for Pacquiao and Arum. That's why he's pushing all the buttons he can to create false controversies that aren't there. Mayweather will string this along for awhile and pretty soon he'll come up with something that indicates Pacquiao is either an android or a being from another planet disguised as a man impersonating a fighter and therefore must be thoroughly tested from head to toe.
Which says team Mayweather must really be impressed by Pacquiao's body of work over his last three or four fights. Which is more than I'm willing to give Manny as good as he's looked recently. I can think of more than a handful of great lightweights and welterweights from past eras that I'd consider overwhelming favorites to beat him.
Eventually team Mayweather is going to have to make a decision as to whether they stop the subterfuge and sign for a legitimate super-fight or Floyd retires undefeated. Mayweather is in a tough spot being the way he thinks. He loves money and a fight with Pacquiao would be like Fort Knox, yet on the other hand he loves saying he's undefeated and "who have beat me?" Obviously Pacquiao is the first fighter who he's contemplated fighting who he's not absolutely sure he can't lose to.
The answer to who has beat him is easy to refute in an historical sense. When reviewing Floyd's won-loss record, what stands out more than anything else are not the names on it, but it's more the names of fighters who are not on it on either side of the column.
Hopefully the games end soon and Mayweather and Pacquiao agree to some form of testing and sign to meet at 147 with the weigh in being the day before the fight.
At this time I don't believe Pacquiao is taking anything illegal, but his unwillingness to give in to all type of testing has somewhat created a slight cloud of suspicion. And if it does come out that he's used any form of illegal PEDs, (regardless that it's not a given that they add to a fighter's performance) the last few years of his career must come under suspicion and Floyd Mayweather is the manager and fighter of the decade.
Source: thesweetscience.com
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Key to super fight could be '24/7' testing
With the proposed March 13 Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. super fight hanging in the balance as the camps continued to slug it out over drug-testing protocol Monday, Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said he was open to talking to his fighter again about the timing of the pre-fight blood test.
Top Rank's Arum had set a Monday deadline to finalize a deal.
Also Monday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the fight because it is due to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, set in motion plans to randomly test the urine of both fighters regardless of whether the fight takes place.
Throughout negotiations over the drug testing -- the final point the sides need to agree on -- Pacquiao has said he would submit to unlimited random urine tests. However, he refused Mayweather's demand to have random blood testing. Instead, Pacquiao agreed to take three tests, one during the week of the kickoff news conference in early January, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight, and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather would be subject to the same testing.
However, Pacquiao's past actions might help Arum convince him to tighten the window for the final random blood test.
When HBO televised "Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7" -- the four-part series that followed the buildup to Pacquiao's second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton to win the junior welterweight title in Las Vegas last May -- it aired footage of Pacquiao taking a routine blood test as part of his pre-fight medical exam in Los Angeles.
The blood test was conducted approximately 14 days before the fight; it punches holes in Pacquiao's argument that giving blood inside 30 days of a fight negatively impacts his performance.
Arum was intrigued by the "24/7" scenario. He told Reuters on Monday that he was ready to move away from Mayweather and announce a new opponent on Tuesday for Pacquiao, but that was before the "24/7" scenario was brought to his attention.
"I will transmit it [word of Pacquiao's '24/7' test] to Manny once [HBO Sports president] Ross Greenburg establishes the actual date of the test in '24/7' and [the Mayweather camp] makes a proposal based on what Ross has come up with," Arum told ESPN.com from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "If that happens, I am sure I can convince Manny" to tighten the testing window.
Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, which is promoting Mayweather for the fight, was also made aware of the "24/7" footage, telling ESPN.com, "I need to discuss it with Team Mayweather. We need to find out what it means if you cut off testing 14 days before the fight. I want to talk to [Mayweather advisers] Al Haymon and Leonard [Ellerbe]."
Although talks had broken down on Sunday, the camps were at least talking again on Monday afternoon after they learned of the "24/7" scenario.
"It's a very good point to point out that Manny was tested so close to the [Hatton] fight," Arum said. "I'm not going to suggest anything to him though, until I hear from the other guys. They have to say, 'This is what Manny did. Here is what we propose.' Then I will bring it to Manny and say, 'Manny, look, you took this test however many days before the fight and it didn't affect you. Hey, you knocked him out in two rounds.'
"What will Manny do? I assume he will listen to me, but I can't promise anything. But I want [Mayweather's camp] to make a formal proposal that this is the outside date for the blood testing based on Manny's prior test in 24/7 and then I will move mountains."
Prior to discussing the "24/7" scenario, the camps were looking at alternative March fights. Both camps had reached out to former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi. Arum was also prepared to have Pacquiao challenge for a title in a record-extending eighth weight class against Yuri Foreman, a Top Rank junior middleweight who won a belt on the Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto undercard on Nov. 14.
"We'll ask the MGM which fight they want [Pacquiao's or Mayweather's] and the MGM will then pick the fight and alienate one of the fighters forever," Arum said. "We have another date [of March 20] that we can go on outside of the MGM and we will do that if we have to. If HBO takes sides, which they're free to do, we have discussed alternatives."
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, the Nevada commission held its final meeting of 2009. At the conclusion of the 25-minute meeting, chairwoman Pat Lundvall closed by invoking the commission's right to conduct random urine tests on Pacquiao and Mayweather.
"The Nevada administrative code obligates any unarmed combatant to submit to tests if they're directed to do so by a member of the commission for prohibited substances," Lundvall said at the public meeting. "And it was in 2007 that we amended our regulations to ensure we were following the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list. ... That is the list we adhere to for the purposes of the testing that is conducted through the athletic commission. We determined that those provisions applied not only immediately before and after a fight, but also to random testing during training, and that any member of the commission can request such a random test."
Lundvall asked commission executive director Keith Kizer to employ the commission's random testing procedure and "request a urine sample from Floyd Mayweather as well as Manny Pacquiao. They're both licensees and they are subject to these kinds of exams whether the proposed fight goes forward or not.
"Random testing is the best way to evaluate the compliance with our rules and regulations against prohibited substances and the primary reason for that is that an athlete doesn't have time to cycle out or flush out any prohibited substances, and therefore random testing is the best thing to employ, which is why I thought it was a good idea for Keith to inform these fighters that we would like to have a sample and move forward with our random testing."
Commissioner Bill Brady added that he supported the request to ensure the safety of the fighters as well as to "reassure the public worldwide that when anyone fights in Nevada that they can count on those fights being fair, above board and on a level playing field. I think it's important that the public knows the commission takes their responsibility seriously."
Pacquiao and Mayweather must submit to the tests within 48 hours or face possible fines or suspension by the Nevada Athletic commission.
"That at least starts the ball rolling," Kizer said.
Mayweather lives in Las Vegas, so that should not be an issue. But even with Pacquiao in the Philippines, Kizer said they have labs they work with worldwide.
Kizer said the results would likely be back within a week of the test.
"That's fine, no problem at all," Arum said when told of Nevada's ruling. "We are absolutely in favor of it. That's what they should be doing. That's what they do in other sports. I see no reason why they shouldn't do it here. We support it 100 percent. I really applaud the way the Nevada Commission has acted.
"I will check with Mayweather," Schaefer said, reacting to Nevada's request. "Right now, I need to focus on getting the fight done."
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Top Rank's Arum had set a Monday deadline to finalize a deal.
Also Monday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the fight because it is due to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, set in motion plans to randomly test the urine of both fighters regardless of whether the fight takes place.
Throughout negotiations over the drug testing -- the final point the sides need to agree on -- Pacquiao has said he would submit to unlimited random urine tests. However, he refused Mayweather's demand to have random blood testing. Instead, Pacquiao agreed to take three tests, one during the week of the kickoff news conference in early January, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight, and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather would be subject to the same testing.
However, Pacquiao's past actions might help Arum convince him to tighten the window for the final random blood test.
When HBO televised "Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7" -- the four-part series that followed the buildup to Pacquiao's second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton to win the junior welterweight title in Las Vegas last May -- it aired footage of Pacquiao taking a routine blood test as part of his pre-fight medical exam in Los Angeles.
The blood test was conducted approximately 14 days before the fight; it punches holes in Pacquiao's argument that giving blood inside 30 days of a fight negatively impacts his performance.
Arum was intrigued by the "24/7" scenario. He told Reuters on Monday that he was ready to move away from Mayweather and announce a new opponent on Tuesday for Pacquiao, but that was before the "24/7" scenario was brought to his attention.
"I will transmit it [word of Pacquiao's '24/7' test] to Manny once [HBO Sports president] Ross Greenburg establishes the actual date of the test in '24/7' and [the Mayweather camp] makes a proposal based on what Ross has come up with," Arum told ESPN.com from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "If that happens, I am sure I can convince Manny" to tighten the testing window.
Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, which is promoting Mayweather for the fight, was also made aware of the "24/7" footage, telling ESPN.com, "I need to discuss it with Team Mayweather. We need to find out what it means if you cut off testing 14 days before the fight. I want to talk to [Mayweather advisers] Al Haymon and Leonard [Ellerbe]."
Although talks had broken down on Sunday, the camps were at least talking again on Monday afternoon after they learned of the "24/7" scenario.
"It's a very good point to point out that Manny was tested so close to the [Hatton] fight," Arum said. "I'm not going to suggest anything to him though, until I hear from the other guys. They have to say, 'This is what Manny did. Here is what we propose.' Then I will bring it to Manny and say, 'Manny, look, you took this test however many days before the fight and it didn't affect you. Hey, you knocked him out in two rounds.'
"What will Manny do? I assume he will listen to me, but I can't promise anything. But I want [Mayweather's camp] to make a formal proposal that this is the outside date for the blood testing based on Manny's prior test in 24/7 and then I will move mountains."
Prior to discussing the "24/7" scenario, the camps were looking at alternative March fights. Both camps had reached out to former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi. Arum was also prepared to have Pacquiao challenge for a title in a record-extending eighth weight class against Yuri Foreman, a Top Rank junior middleweight who won a belt on the Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto undercard on Nov. 14.
"We'll ask the MGM which fight they want [Pacquiao's or Mayweather's] and the MGM will then pick the fight and alienate one of the fighters forever," Arum said. "We have another date [of March 20] that we can go on outside of the MGM and we will do that if we have to. If HBO takes sides, which they're free to do, we have discussed alternatives."
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, the Nevada commission held its final meeting of 2009. At the conclusion of the 25-minute meeting, chairwoman Pat Lundvall closed by invoking the commission's right to conduct random urine tests on Pacquiao and Mayweather.
"The Nevada administrative code obligates any unarmed combatant to submit to tests if they're directed to do so by a member of the commission for prohibited substances," Lundvall said at the public meeting. "And it was in 2007 that we amended our regulations to ensure we were following the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list. ... That is the list we adhere to for the purposes of the testing that is conducted through the athletic commission. We determined that those provisions applied not only immediately before and after a fight, but also to random testing during training, and that any member of the commission can request such a random test."
Lundvall asked commission executive director Keith Kizer to employ the commission's random testing procedure and "request a urine sample from Floyd Mayweather as well as Manny Pacquiao. They're both licensees and they are subject to these kinds of exams whether the proposed fight goes forward or not.
"Random testing is the best way to evaluate the compliance with our rules and regulations against prohibited substances and the primary reason for that is that an athlete doesn't have time to cycle out or flush out any prohibited substances, and therefore random testing is the best thing to employ, which is why I thought it was a good idea for Keith to inform these fighters that we would like to have a sample and move forward with our random testing."
Commissioner Bill Brady added that he supported the request to ensure the safety of the fighters as well as to "reassure the public worldwide that when anyone fights in Nevada that they can count on those fights being fair, above board and on a level playing field. I think it's important that the public knows the commission takes their responsibility seriously."
Pacquiao and Mayweather must submit to the tests within 48 hours or face possible fines or suspension by the Nevada Athletic commission.
"That at least starts the ball rolling," Kizer said.
Mayweather lives in Las Vegas, so that should not be an issue. But even with Pacquiao in the Philippines, Kizer said they have labs they work with worldwide.
Kizer said the results would likely be back within a week of the test.
"That's fine, no problem at all," Arum said when told of Nevada's ruling. "We are absolutely in favor of it. That's what they should be doing. That's what they do in other sports. I see no reason why they shouldn't do it here. We support it 100 percent. I really applaud the way the Nevada Commission has acted.
"I will check with Mayweather," Schaefer said, reacting to Nevada's request. "Right now, I need to focus on getting the fight done."
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Mayweather is Ready if Pacquiao Takes Tests
By Mark Vester
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions and adviser to Floyd Mayweather Jr, says a March fight with Manny Pacquiao is not going to happen unless both fighters agree to be randomly blood tested. As it stands right now, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank wants the Nevada State Athletic Commission to making a ruling during their January 19 meeting on whether or not the fighters should take additional drug tests. Golden Boy Promotions, on behalf of Mayweather, have rejected the idea of giving the Nevada Commission the authority to have the final say on the matter. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer wants a contract agreement for the random drug testing.
Ellerbe says the issue of the random blood tests is the deal-breaker. Unless Pacquiao agrees to be randomly blood-tested, Mayweather will not agree to the fight.
"The only way that this fight will not get made is if Manny Pacquiao is not willing to be randomly blood-tested," said Ellerbe to AOL's Fan House . "As far as Floyd Mayweather, he is more than ready, willing and able to be randomly tested."
Source: boxingscene.com
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions and adviser to Floyd Mayweather Jr, says a March fight with Manny Pacquiao is not going to happen unless both fighters agree to be randomly blood tested. As it stands right now, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank wants the Nevada State Athletic Commission to making a ruling during their January 19 meeting on whether or not the fighters should take additional drug tests. Golden Boy Promotions, on behalf of Mayweather, have rejected the idea of giving the Nevada Commission the authority to have the final say on the matter. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer wants a contract agreement for the random drug testing.
Ellerbe says the issue of the random blood tests is the deal-breaker. Unless Pacquiao agrees to be randomly blood-tested, Mayweather will not agree to the fight.
"The only way that this fight will not get made is if Manny Pacquiao is not willing to be randomly blood-tested," said Ellerbe to AOL's Fan House . "As far as Floyd Mayweather, he is more than ready, willing and able to be randomly tested."
Source: boxingscene.com
Mayweather sets record straight
Floyd Mayweather believes Manny Pacquiao's refusal to submit to blood testing is a sign that the Filipino doesn't want to fight him.
The bout between the two had been scheduled for March 13 but the deal is in danger of collapsing after a difference of opinion between the two camps.
Mayweather's team have insisted on US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) protocols, including random blood tests at any point beforehand.
However Pacquiao has refused to be subjected to testing 30 days before the fight, believing that doing so would weaken him so close to the bout.
Statement
Now Mayweather's camp have hit back, releasing a statement, in conjunction with Golden Boy Promotions, claiming that Pac-Man and his promoter Bob Arum are failing to see the benefits from testing.
"Let the record be clear; Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum are threatening to walk away from the largest fight in history," the statement read.
"It is disappointing for us to see that the benefits of blood testing, and the fact that many different substances and procedures can only be detected by blood testing, are still not fully understood at all.
"Their 'take it or leave it' approach, where blood testing would stop 30 days prior to the fight unless the Nevada State Commission (NSAC) approved differently, is another indication that they may not want this fight."
Pacquiao had threatened to take legal action in a statement he released on Boxing Day, while also assuring everyone that he had not taken "any form or kind of steroids".
Team Mayweather have looked to diffuse the row, though, adding: "Let it be very clear that nobody from Team Mayweather or Golden Boy Promotions is accusing Pacquiao of anything.
"But the reality seems to be that, for whatever reason, Pacquiao does not want to participate in random blood testing, which has already been deemed a harmless procedure that many current athletes are subjected to, prior to and during competition.
Concession
"Also, when told that Pacquiao feels that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is an agent of Golden Boy Promotions - which is in and of itself a ridiculous accusation - we moved swiftly and made yet another concession by stating that we would be perfectly fine to retain another agency which would do the random urine and blood tests and jointly agree on a reasonable cut-off prior to the fight, but which would still maintain the integrity of the results.
"Let it be clear that this procedure was declined by Pacquiao as was the proposal to bring in an independent mediator such as Senator John McCain, a suggestion that was in fact embraced by Bob Arum, but also declined by Manny Pacquiao."
The Nevada State Athletic Commission have reacted to the disagreement by ordering both boxers to submit to tests within 48 hours.
"That at least starts the ball rolling," said Keith Kizer, the commission's executive director.
"I don't know if this will help the chances of the fight happening. But with all this talk of drug tests, let's actually do one."
Source: skysports.com
Mayweather camp ridicules Pacquiao as sledging continues over tests
FLOYD MAYWEATHER jnr's management has ridiculed Manny Pacquiao's reasons for refusing to accept blood testing within 30 days of the proposed mega-fight between the pair by pointing out that the Filipino was shown on a TV documentary undergoing such a test 14 days before his bout with Ricky Hatton.
Pacquiao said last weekend that taking blood out of his body ''does not seem natural … and mentally I feel it will weaken me if blood is taken from me just days before the fight'', while his camp has also suggested that he is afraid of needles.
In response to demands from Mayweather that both boxers submit to random blood and urine testing before and after the March 13 fight, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, tabled a counter-proposal that they each provide three blood tests - one on the day the bout is confirmed, another 30 days before the fight and the third immediately after the fight - as well as random urine tests.
Mayweather was given until yesterday to accept the deal or Pacquiao would scuttle what is expected to be the most lucrative bout in boxing history, with the pair guaranteed a minimum of $US25 million ($27.9m) each , and finalise negotiations to fight Paulie Malignaggi instead.
While the deadline passed without Mayweather agreeing to the deal put forward by Arum, talks between the two parties are set to continue.
But Team Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions said in a statement that they had made many concessions for the fight and questioned why Pacquiao was so reluctant to agree to their stringent drug-testing proposals.
''Let it be very clear that nobody from Team Mayweather or Golden Boy Promotions is accusing Pacquiao of anything,'' the statement said. ''But the reality seems to be that for whatever reason Pacquiao does not want to participate in random blood testing, which has already been deemed a harmless procedure that many current athletes are subjected to prior to and during competition. The fact is that he did have blood taken just 14 days prior to his fight with Ricky Hatton, an event which was documented on HBO's 24/7 reality show.
''Team Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions [are] still open to the earlier discussions of having both parties work out a mutually agreeable understanding of the testing, which would be conducted by a mutually agreed upon agency.''
Asked about the blood testing before the Hatton fight, Arum told ESPN.com he would suggest that Pacquiao do the same if such a proposal was put forward.
Arum also said that Pacquiao would comply with the Nevada Sports Commission's orders.
Source: smh.com.au
NSAC requirers Pacquiao-Mayweather drug test
The chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission has ordered Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to take immediate out-of-competition urine tests, even as the sides bicker heatedly over a drug-testing policy that threatens to scrap their scheduled March 13 mega-fight in Las Vegas.
Nevada Athletic Commission Chairman Pat Lundvall ordered Executive Director Keith Kizer to point Mayweather and Pacquiao to accredited drug-testing labs in the United States and Philippines, respectively, for tests that must be completed by Wednesday, Kizer told The Times.
The tests will be paid for by Nevada and are consistent with World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines, Kizer said.
"It's a start," Kizer said. "Whether it's the end, I don't know."
Kizer was referring to the ongoing argument between the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps about how to conduct drug tests. Pacquiao's camp wants to submit two blood tests, one in January, another 30 days before the fight, and another after the bout. Mayweather's camp, after consulting with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency about its protocol, argues that the fighters should be subjected to possible random blood testing until the first bell.
Source: latimes.com
Arum to ask Pacquiao to rethink blood objection
MIAMI (Reuters) - World champion Manny Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum says he will ask the boxer to reconsider his objection to blood testing, raising the prospect that the proposed bout with American Floyd Mayweather could yet go ahead.
Just hours after Arum said that he was going to announce a new opponent for world champion Pacquiao, Mayweather's camp highlighted footage from a television documentary that appeared to contradict Pacquiao's objection to blood testing close to the fight.
Pacquiao has balked at Mayweather's demand for random blood testing within 30 days of the fight, preferring urine testing as he says losing blood weakens him -- a stance which has threatened a highly anticipated and lucrative match-up.
But scenes from the HBO reality show 'Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7' which documented Pacquiao's build-up to his fight with Briton Ricky Hatton in May, showed the Filipino fighter giving blood.
Mayweather's camp said the scene was filmed just 14 days before the fight -- a fact Arum said he wanted to verify before speaking to his fighter.
"I will transmit it to Manny once (HBO Sports president) Ross Greenburg establishes the actual date of the test in '24/7' and (the Mayweather camp) makes a proposal based on what Ross has come up with," Arum told ESPN.com.
"If that happens, I am sure I can convince Manny," he said.
Arum had set a Monday deadline for Golden Boy to accept a "final offer" in which both sides let the Nevada State Athletic Commission make the final decision on testing.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said that there was no question of accepting that proposal.
"Random is random. We are not backing off and the ball is in their court," he told Reuters.
Arum then threatened to find another opponent for Pacquiao which in turn prompted another sharp response from the Mayweather team in a statement on Monday.
"Let the record be clear: Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum are threatening to walk away from the largest fight in history," it said.
But the Mayweather camp also left the door open for further talks.
"Team Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions is still open to the earlier discussions of having both parties work out a mutually agreeable understanding of the testing, which would be conducted by a mutually agreed upon agency," the statement added.
Pacquiao won the WBO title in November by stopping holder Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in Las Vegas.
The Filipino (50-3-2) won an unprecedented seventh title in seven weight classes to set up the best pound-for-pound showdown against unbeaten Mayweather (40-0) in what was expected to be among boxing's biggest earning fights.
Source: reuters.com
Just hours after Arum said that he was going to announce a new opponent for world champion Pacquiao, Mayweather's camp highlighted footage from a television documentary that appeared to contradict Pacquiao's objection to blood testing close to the fight.
Pacquiao has balked at Mayweather's demand for random blood testing within 30 days of the fight, preferring urine testing as he says losing blood weakens him -- a stance which has threatened a highly anticipated and lucrative match-up.
But scenes from the HBO reality show 'Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7' which documented Pacquiao's build-up to his fight with Briton Ricky Hatton in May, showed the Filipino fighter giving blood.
Mayweather's camp said the scene was filmed just 14 days before the fight -- a fact Arum said he wanted to verify before speaking to his fighter.
"I will transmit it to Manny once (HBO Sports president) Ross Greenburg establishes the actual date of the test in '24/7' and (the Mayweather camp) makes a proposal based on what Ross has come up with," Arum told ESPN.com.
"If that happens, I am sure I can convince Manny," he said.
Arum had set a Monday deadline for Golden Boy to accept a "final offer" in which both sides let the Nevada State Athletic Commission make the final decision on testing.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said that there was no question of accepting that proposal.
"Random is random. We are not backing off and the ball is in their court," he told Reuters.
Arum then threatened to find another opponent for Pacquiao which in turn prompted another sharp response from the Mayweather team in a statement on Monday.
"Let the record be clear: Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum are threatening to walk away from the largest fight in history," it said.
But the Mayweather camp also left the door open for further talks.
"Team Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions is still open to the earlier discussions of having both parties work out a mutually agreeable understanding of the testing, which would be conducted by a mutually agreed upon agency," the statement added.
Pacquiao won the WBO title in November by stopping holder Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in Las Vegas.
The Filipino (50-3-2) won an unprecedented seventh title in seven weight classes to set up the best pound-for-pound showdown against unbeaten Mayweather (40-0) in what was expected to be among boxing's biggest earning fights.
Source: reuters.com
Sunday, December 27, 2009
BOB ARUM BLAMES SCHAEFER AND "THAT CREEP OSCAR" FOR POISONING MAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO
"Our position is really straight forward and there's no way in hell they're not going to accept our position. This has never before happened in boxing, let alone Nevada. Let's leave it to the Nevada Commission and let them take over the governing of the event."
GL: To be clear, if this fight doesn't happen under the full jurisdiction of the NSAC as every fight before it, then it's just not going to happen.
Bob Arum: "Absolutely! Who are we, the fighters to make the rules? We've got a Commission, let them make the rules. If you want to come before the Commission and ask them for additional tests for both fighters, you want to test them going into the ring, in the ring, whatever you want to do, you're the Commission tell us. As far as I'm concerned the Nevada Commission are boxing people. They'll make the rules that will protect the fighters and we'll get all this silly stuff done and over with."
GL: As a boxing guy reading between the lines, it seems to me that you're not so subtly telling the Mayweather camp where they can go and this is what they get for overplaying their hand because they basically had all of their concessions and decided to go public and accuse Manny...
BA: (cutting in) "Exactly. Let's do this the right way. Manny Pacquiao is 100% an honest kid. He's never cheated and virtually every doctor except for this guy from USADA says you can determine everything from urine analysis. People in that organization hate that guy that has been a loudmouth. Ask him how many blood tests there were from 29 days before the Olympics until after the competition was over. YOu know what the answer is? ZERO. If they didn't do any blood tests until after the athlete competed what the hell are they talking about? What are we trying to subject these fighters to?"
GL: And this isn't a position your going to bend on, it's just take it or leave it at this point.
BA: "Absolutely. Not particularly when we found out that in his office Schaefer told Ron Nathanielz that Pacquiao was a cheat, that he was taking drugs and so forth. And his dialogue with this creep from the USADA started in September. We have evidence of that, we have all of the inside stuff. This is a whole campaign on his and that creep Oscar's part to smear Pacquiao because he chose us over them. I'll bet you all the money in the world, I don't know this for a fact, but this whole idea was put in their ear by Schaefer."
GL: For somebody who allowed Todd duBoef to take the lead, you seem to be telling everyone what it is.
BA: "Well, once I saw what was happening, I said to myself, I'm going to get emotional about this, let's see if Todd, who is cooler can salvage this and play along with them. I'll show you the documents, when they put this in the documents, I immediately crossed it out and when we returned our contract to them it didn't include that clause."
GL: Do you think boxing needs better standards for testing?
BA: "I think there should be more pre-fight testing with urine analysis, but our doctors and experts tell us that every single thing that can be picked up in blood, is better picked up in urine analysis. The only reason they do the blood after the guy competes is because they freeze the blood and it stays good for eight years, the urine decomposes after a while. If they want to take blood after the fight, if they want to freeze it fine, who gives a shit? But that's why there's no blood testing until after the competition at the Olympics and that's something this scumbag never said."
GL: What's the Mayweather camp's deadline?
BA: "On Monday we're going to make a deal with Lou and Malignaggi and we're going to put a deal together with the same kind of procedures in place for Manny's next fight, and that'll shut up Malignaggi also. He's been keeping quiet now because he doesn't want to blow a fight, but that's fine. Either way, I'm sure he'll be satisfied."
GL: Considering some of his opinions, some are surprised you chose that direction.
BA: "Everybody is entitled to their opinions, but what the fuck is everybody talking about? He was 135 for Diaz, 142 for De La HOya, 138 for Hatton and 143 for Cotto. Where is the difference in weight? He's been virtually the same weight for the last two years."
GL: If Mayweather and Pacquiao is salvaged, are you disappointed at the black cloud that has already been cast above the promotion? Isn't this a black eye on an event that should have been absolutely positive?
BA: "I think you're absolutely right, but I think our litigation will proceed in any event. Our major litigation is against Golden Boy for the promotional rights of Pacquiao and that's about to go bye-bye."
GL: Golden Boy still makes money on Pacquiao fights, yes?
BA: "Yes, but we're going before the arbitrator to get that removed and that's going to cost them millions of dollars. And that includes the profit that they would have gotten from the Cotto fight, which is probably between $1.5-$2M on their end."
GL: Closing thoughts?
BA: "My closing thoughts are, this nonsense has got to stop otherwise Mayweather can pound sand. It's simple as that. We're not going to put up with this nonsense anymore. It's made a farce out of boxing. It's made a farce out of the event and it's been a calculated attempt to smear the name of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather should know better. The only thing I can think of is, he's using this as an excuse to get out of the fight."
Source: boxingtalk.com
GL: To be clear, if this fight doesn't happen under the full jurisdiction of the NSAC as every fight before it, then it's just not going to happen.
Bob Arum: "Absolutely! Who are we, the fighters to make the rules? We've got a Commission, let them make the rules. If you want to come before the Commission and ask them for additional tests for both fighters, you want to test them going into the ring, in the ring, whatever you want to do, you're the Commission tell us. As far as I'm concerned the Nevada Commission are boxing people. They'll make the rules that will protect the fighters and we'll get all this silly stuff done and over with."
GL: As a boxing guy reading between the lines, it seems to me that you're not so subtly telling the Mayweather camp where they can go and this is what they get for overplaying their hand because they basically had all of their concessions and decided to go public and accuse Manny...
BA: (cutting in) "Exactly. Let's do this the right way. Manny Pacquiao is 100% an honest kid. He's never cheated and virtually every doctor except for this guy from USADA says you can determine everything from urine analysis. People in that organization hate that guy that has been a loudmouth. Ask him how many blood tests there were from 29 days before the Olympics until after the competition was over. YOu know what the answer is? ZERO. If they didn't do any blood tests until after the athlete competed what the hell are they talking about? What are we trying to subject these fighters to?"
GL: And this isn't a position your going to bend on, it's just take it or leave it at this point.
BA: "Absolutely. Not particularly when we found out that in his office Schaefer told Ron Nathanielz that Pacquiao was a cheat, that he was taking drugs and so forth. And his dialogue with this creep from the USADA started in September. We have evidence of that, we have all of the inside stuff. This is a whole campaign on his and that creep Oscar's part to smear Pacquiao because he chose us over them. I'll bet you all the money in the world, I don't know this for a fact, but this whole idea was put in their ear by Schaefer."
GL: For somebody who allowed Todd duBoef to take the lead, you seem to be telling everyone what it is.
BA: "Well, once I saw what was happening, I said to myself, I'm going to get emotional about this, let's see if Todd, who is cooler can salvage this and play along with them. I'll show you the documents, when they put this in the documents, I immediately crossed it out and when we returned our contract to them it didn't include that clause."
GL: Do you think boxing needs better standards for testing?
BA: "I think there should be more pre-fight testing with urine analysis, but our doctors and experts tell us that every single thing that can be picked up in blood, is better picked up in urine analysis. The only reason they do the blood after the guy competes is because they freeze the blood and it stays good for eight years, the urine decomposes after a while. If they want to take blood after the fight, if they want to freeze it fine, who gives a shit? But that's why there's no blood testing until after the competition at the Olympics and that's something this scumbag never said."
GL: What's the Mayweather camp's deadline?
BA: "On Monday we're going to make a deal with Lou and Malignaggi and we're going to put a deal together with the same kind of procedures in place for Manny's next fight, and that'll shut up Malignaggi also. He's been keeping quiet now because he doesn't want to blow a fight, but that's fine. Either way, I'm sure he'll be satisfied."
GL: Considering some of his opinions, some are surprised you chose that direction.
BA: "Everybody is entitled to their opinions, but what the fuck is everybody talking about? He was 135 for Diaz, 142 for De La HOya, 138 for Hatton and 143 for Cotto. Where is the difference in weight? He's been virtually the same weight for the last two years."
GL: If Mayweather and Pacquiao is salvaged, are you disappointed at the black cloud that has already been cast above the promotion? Isn't this a black eye on an event that should have been absolutely positive?
BA: "I think you're absolutely right, but I think our litigation will proceed in any event. Our major litigation is against Golden Boy for the promotional rights of Pacquiao and that's about to go bye-bye."
GL: Golden Boy still makes money on Pacquiao fights, yes?
BA: "Yes, but we're going before the arbitrator to get that removed and that's going to cost them millions of dollars. And that includes the profit that they would have gotten from the Cotto fight, which is probably between $1.5-$2M on their end."
GL: Closing thoughts?
BA: "My closing thoughts are, this nonsense has got to stop otherwise Mayweather can pound sand. It's simple as that. We're not going to put up with this nonsense anymore. It's made a farce out of boxing. It's made a farce out of the event and it's been a calculated attempt to smear the name of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather should know better. The only thing I can think of is, he's using this as an excuse to get out of the fight."
Source: boxingtalk.com
Pacquiao vs Malignaggi for HBO PPV on March 13
By Mark Vester
It's been confirmed to BoxingScene.com that a possible Manny Pacquiao vs. Paulie Malignaggi event, if it gets finalized, will be carried by HBO pay-per-view. There is a Monday deadline for Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions to reach an agreement for Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. For nearly a week the two promotional companies have been fighting over the contract terms for random Olympic style drug testing.
After a week of back and forth negotiations, Bob Arum of Top Rank gave a final offer to Golden Boy, directing both sides to have the Nevada State Athletic Commission, during their January 19 meeting, decide if the two fighters need additional urine and blood tests. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe rejected Arum's final offer. They do not want the NSAC involved and refuse to back away from their demand for random tests within 30-days leading up to the fight. Arum warned Golden Boy that his offer was final. If neither side budges by Monday, Arum plans to finalize Pacquiao-Malignaggi for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
HBO commentator Larry Merchant told Yahoo Sports that he can't picture Mayweather walking away from so much money.
“This is boxing and it is the boxing business,” Merchant said. “Mayweather calls himself ‘Money,’ so it is hard to see him walking away from this much of it, especially when he thinks he is going to win. This would be the biggest fight that has been sabotaged because of a blood feud. No one wants to see it come to that.”
Source: boxingscene.com
It's been confirmed to BoxingScene.com that a possible Manny Pacquiao vs. Paulie Malignaggi event, if it gets finalized, will be carried by HBO pay-per-view. There is a Monday deadline for Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions to reach an agreement for Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. For nearly a week the two promotional companies have been fighting over the contract terms for random Olympic style drug testing.
After a week of back and forth negotiations, Bob Arum of Top Rank gave a final offer to Golden Boy, directing both sides to have the Nevada State Athletic Commission, during their January 19 meeting, decide if the two fighters need additional urine and blood tests. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe rejected Arum's final offer. They do not want the NSAC involved and refuse to back away from their demand for random tests within 30-days leading up to the fight. Arum warned Golden Boy that his offer was final. If neither side budges by Monday, Arum plans to finalize Pacquiao-Malignaggi for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
HBO commentator Larry Merchant told Yahoo Sports that he can't picture Mayweather walking away from so much money.
“This is boxing and it is the boxing business,” Merchant said. “Mayweather calls himself ‘Money,’ so it is hard to see him walking away from this much of it, especially when he thinks he is going to win. This would be the biggest fight that has been sabotaged because of a blood feud. No one wants to see it come to that.”
Source: boxingscene.com
Team Mayweather Rejects Final Offer!!!!
Even in the best of times, nothing is ever quite as it seems in boxing. When it comes to the unceasing political hard-balling that surrounds the biggest fight that has yet to be, every action and reaction comes with a liberal coating of chicanery.
On the surface, the would-be superfight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao was further away from resolution than ever Sunday, with the drug-testing ruckus – specifically whether and when to draw blood from the fighters – that has stalled discussions remaining unmitigated.
Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum made what he called his “final proposal,” suggesting that each camp make representations to the Nevada State Athletic Commission as to why their preferred testing system should be used. Both sides would then be expected to accept the commission’s final ruling on a testing format. Arum said that if the Mayweather camp doesn’t agree, he would begin negotiations Monday with Paulie Malignaggi as Pacquiao’s next opponent.
But Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer indicated to Yahoo! Sports that they would not accept such a proposal, meaning Arum’s deadline of Monday morning would not be met.
That means Pacquiao-Malignaggi and not Pacquiao-Mayweather will happen on March 13, right?
Not so fast.
In this feud that operates in a parallel boxing universe, where truth, spin and trickery make awkward bedfellows, ultimatum can mean conciliation. Indeed, with the egos and pride involved on all sides, it could take this fight heading to the brink of collapse before it can actually get sorted out.
Everyone knows what is at stake here, from Arum to Schaefer to the fighters themselves. The magnitude of the fight, the biggest and most lucrative of both fighters’ careers, means that negotiations must be made with strength and conviction.
But it is all for nothing if the whole thing goes to shreds, leaving nothing more than a black hole of lost money for both sides.
So Monday, deadline or no, this thing has a ways to run.
“We are prepared to have this handled in a way that is not us deciding or them deciding,” said Arum, speaking while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “The commission meets on Jan. 19. Mayweather’s people can say why they believe additional testing above what we agreed to is necessary and we can give our viewpoint.
“Let the commission decide. If they come away and decide Manny needs to be blood tested every single [expletive] day, then we will go with that. This is the way to go to give this thing legitimacy. I hope they [Team Mayweather] see reason.”
Arum’s concession may help swing public opinion in Pacquiao’s favor. The Filipino star’s arguments that he did not like needles and feared that blood testing within 30 days of the fight would drain him were met with little sympathy.
But it is Mayweather who stands to look unreasonable if he does not accept this proposal. And now we may find out once and for all whether the Pretty Boy’s stance over the drug issue was more mired in deep concern that Pacquiao is a steroid cheat or mere posturing aimed at disrupting his opponent.
Either way, there are no guarantees that the Nevada commission would approve the kind of random testing that Mayweather’s people want, as it would effectively be an admission that its current policies are ineffective and potentially would set an expensive precedent for future fights.
“It does not make sense for this to become a commission matter,” Schaefer told Yahoo! Sports. “This is a contractual matter. The commission did not decide the weights or the purse split or how the foreign television rights would be sold.
“If this is Bob’s final ultimatum, then that’s what it is. That is his decision if he wants to take that position. I very much hope this fight can be made, but the reason it is at a standstill is because of the way they have handled things.”
Ellerbe’s response when told of Arum’s offer was brief and to the point.
“Random is random,” he said. “We are all intelligent people and we know what random testing is. That is what we want and it has not changed.”
This to-and-fro negotiation is boxing’s biggest fight right now, and it has become a bitter feud. There has to be some give and take – and with millions of dollars and countless reputations on the line, it would still be a surprise if Mayweather-Pacquiao doesn’t happen, despite all the bumps in the road.
“This is boxing and it is the boxing business,” HBO commentator Larry Merchant said. “Mayweather calls himself ‘Money,’ so it is hard to see him walking away from this much of it, especially when he thinks he is going to win.
“This would be the biggest fight that has been sabotaged because of a blood feud. No one wants to see it come to that.”
Source: yahoo.com
Boxing's bloody mess: Pacquiao meet McGwire
Manny Pacquiao is face to face with the most important opponent of his boxing career, and it's not Floyd Mayweather. The opponent is himself. At stake? Nothing much. Only his place in the boxing pantheon. Only his legacy.
This is his Mark McGwire Moment, and Pacquiao must attack it forcefully and bluntly. So far, he has bobbed and weaved. He has slipped the issue. He has refused Mayweather's insistence on Olympic-style drug testing before their 147-pound mega-fight, which was set for March 13 but now appears to be off because Pacquiao won't submit the necessary blood. He says he's superstitious. He says giving blood so close to the fight would weaken him. He says a bunch of gibberish, none of which makes sense, all of which makes him look as guilty as McGwire looked when he hit Capitol Hill and refused to discuss steroids.
Manny Pacquiao has to step up and clear the air ... now. "I'm not here to discuss the past," McGwire said in March 2005, and cemented his future. Almost five years have passed, and McGwire is still viewed as a steroid cheat. Three times his name has appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot, and three times he has failed to come close to induction despite having career numbers certainly worthy of Cooperstown, assuming he amassed those numbers legally. Most voters think he did not. Most voters are probably right, given his cartoonishly muscled body, his historical power and his evasion on Capitol Hill on March 17, 2005.
Now it is Manny Pacquiao's turn. He has come to his own version of Capitol Hill, and he has chosen to walk the path of Mark McGwire and avoid the issue entirely. He's not here to talk about the past, or about blood testing -- and like McGwire, Manny Pacquiao thinks that should be good enough.
It's not. It's not close to good enough. Fair or not, illegal performance enhancement is the new witch hunt, the new red scare. In the 17th century, if you were accused of being a witch, you were a witch unless you could prove otherwise. How could you prove otherwise? Well, you could be thrown off a cliff or burned at the stake. If you survived, then obviously you were a witch. And if you died? Well ... oops. But on the bright side, the fatal fall or fire cleansed your reputation.
In the 1950s, when this country's fear of communism was stoked by a madman named Joseph McCarthy, the accusation of being a communist was the same thing as being a communist. If you were accused of it, you were it, until you proved otherwise. How could you prove otherwise? Well, you couldn't. Many victims of McCarthyism went to prison. At least one committed suicide. After a few years of nonsense, the hysteria died down, and McCarthy's influence subsided. And then, mercifully, he died at age 48 in 1957.
Now the onus is on Pacquiao. Like so many who came before him -- McGwire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, cyclists and sprinters and body builders -- he is guilty until proven innocent. But this is different from the Salem witch trials or the McCarthy's reign of terror, because the solution is simple:
Do the blood test.
Pacquiao's supporters say he will do the blood test, but they are right only up to a point. They refuse to see beyond that point, because that's what supporters do: They see what they want to see. And Pacquiao fans see this: They see Pacquiao as being accommodating -- willing to submit to a urine test whenever it is asked, and even willing to submit to a blood test months before the fight, or shortly after the fight.
Pacquiao fans ignore this glaring truth, that their hero is not willing to give blood in the weeks leading up to the fight.
When the HGH would still be in his system.
That's what I see. I see Pacquiao avoiding the blood test. He says giving blood so soon before a fight would weaken him, but that's nonsense. He wouldn't be donating blood, for God's sake. He'd be giving a sample. A smidgen. A negligible amount.
And let's be honest about this: There is reason to believe Pacquiao could be -- not is, but could be -- aided by HGH. He is fighting at 40 pounds above his debut weight, and he is better than ever. That goes against a century of boxing history, which has shown that fighters tend to get less effective as they rise in weight for two reasons: They lose power as they stray from their original weight class, and the accumulation of boxing's abuse begins to erode their skills.
Not Pacquiao. The bigger he gets, the older he gets (he's 31), the better he gets. He was 39-3-2 with 30 knockouts in 44 fights at weights ranging from 106 to 129½ pounds. In his past 11 fights, most of them over 130 pounds and some of them into the 140s, he is 11-0 with eight knockouts, and he has done that against some of the world's best fighters in those classes. It makes no sense, and when it comes to the search for performance-enhancing cheats, that is the biggest red flag of all:
It makes no sense.
Until now, Pacquiao has somehow gotten bigger and better and yet he has avoided being linked to drugs. Why? Because boxing isn't a major media sport, and I say that as an amateur boxer myself. I love the sport, but it doesn't get the scrutiny of baseball or even of track or cycling, and so Pacquiao's unusual rise in size and performance has passed under the radar -- until now. Mayweather wants Pacquiao to prove his cleanliness by submitting a small amount of blood before their fight, and it is not an unreasonable request. Olympic fighters do it. But not Manny Pacquiao?
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, says Pacquiao will fight someone else in March. Pacquiao says he will sue Mayweather, and others, for slander. They think life will go on, and I am here to tell them, it will not.
Pacquiao is now linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Right or wrong, there it is -- and it won't go away. He can make like Mark McGwire and avoid the issue, and while his biggest fans will continue to believe in him, the rest of us will not forget.
And when the time comes to assess his legacy, we will burn him at the stake.
Source: cbssports.com
Arum delivers final proposal to resolve Pacquiao-Mayweather fight
LAS VEGAS — Promoter Bob Arum delivered what he said would be his last proposal Sunday to salvage the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which has been on life support over a blood testing dispute.
Under Arum's proposal, the Nevada Athletic Commission would have the final say in how much testing there would be for the fight and when it would take place. Preparations for the fight would go forward and there would be three blood tests - none within 30 days of the fight - unless the commission decided otherwise at a mid-January meeting.
" We will go along with what the Nevada commission decides. We will give them a blank check," Arum said. "We want this fight to go forward."
Arum said Pacquiao's side would go no further than the proposal, and that he will begin negotiations Monday with Paul Malignaggi for the March 13 date the megafight was supposed to take place on.
The position is tougher than earlier statements by those in Pacquiao's camp that there could be a compromise on blood testing if it is not done by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and in the final days before the fight. It leaves the fate of the fight in jeopardy since there would likely be little appetite by Nevada regulators to go beyond the urine tests now required by state law.
The director of the Nevada commission and Mayweather's representatives did not immediately return telephone messages Sunday.
All other issues were earlier resolved, but the nasty dispute over attempts by Mayweather's camp to introduce stringent blood testing to pro boxing for the first time make it increasingly unlikely it will happen.
Mayweather's representatives backed off their insistence on using the USADA over the weekend, but continued to insist on random blood and urine tests with a cutoff date mutually agreeable to both sides.
Pacquiao's camp seemed willing to agree to that up until the last few days when the conversation turned from testing to slander lawsuits against those alleging that Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs to move up in weight to win titles in seven different weight classes.
"It's all either a smokscreen because Mayweather doesn't want to do the fight or an attempt by (Mayweather promoter) Richard Schaefer to smear Manny Pacquiao," Arum said. "We will deal with that legally."
Ironically, Malignaggi is one of those who have suggested in interviews that Pacquiao must have used something to be able to dominate fighters in the higher weight classes.
If the fight is not held March 13, there is still a chance it could happen in September after the two have other fights.
Source: google.com
Under Arum's proposal, the Nevada Athletic Commission would have the final say in how much testing there would be for the fight and when it would take place. Preparations for the fight would go forward and there would be three blood tests - none within 30 days of the fight - unless the commission decided otherwise at a mid-January meeting.
" We will go along with what the Nevada commission decides. We will give them a blank check," Arum said. "We want this fight to go forward."
Arum said Pacquiao's side would go no further than the proposal, and that he will begin negotiations Monday with Paul Malignaggi for the March 13 date the megafight was supposed to take place on.
The position is tougher than earlier statements by those in Pacquiao's camp that there could be a compromise on blood testing if it is not done by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and in the final days before the fight. It leaves the fate of the fight in jeopardy since there would likely be little appetite by Nevada regulators to go beyond the urine tests now required by state law.
The director of the Nevada commission and Mayweather's representatives did not immediately return telephone messages Sunday.
All other issues were earlier resolved, but the nasty dispute over attempts by Mayweather's camp to introduce stringent blood testing to pro boxing for the first time make it increasingly unlikely it will happen.
Mayweather's representatives backed off their insistence on using the USADA over the weekend, but continued to insist on random blood and urine tests with a cutoff date mutually agreeable to both sides.
Pacquiao's camp seemed willing to agree to that up until the last few days when the conversation turned from testing to slander lawsuits against those alleging that Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs to move up in weight to win titles in seven different weight classes.
"It's all either a smokscreen because Mayweather doesn't want to do the fight or an attempt by (Mayweather promoter) Richard Schaefer to smear Manny Pacquiao," Arum said. "We will deal with that legally."
Ironically, Malignaggi is one of those who have suggested in interviews that Pacquiao must have used something to be able to dominate fighters in the higher weight classes.
If the fight is not held March 13, there is still a chance it could happen in September after the two have other fights.
Source: google.com
Mayweather has till Monday to agree on terms
SAN FRANCISCO -- Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told SI.com on Sunday that he has made his final offer to Floyd Mayweather and that Mayweather has until Monday morning to accept the deal. The offer remains essentially the same -- Pacquiao will submit to unlimited urine tests while agreeing to blood tests in January and as many as two more no later than 30 days before the fight.
The new wrinkle to the offer is that Arum is proposing a hearing be held on Jan. 19 in front of the Nevada Athletic Commission to determine whether additional blood tests are necessary.
"This is unprecedented," said Arum. "Our expert says blood tests are ridiculous. But we will let the commission decide. They are the governing body."
If Mayweather refuses, Arum says he will make a deal for Pacquiao to face former junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi on March 13 in Las Vegas.
"That deal will take about an hour [to make]," said Arum.
The Nevada commission does not require fighters to submit to blood tests before a fight. Commission rules require fighters to take urine tests before and after each fight, tests that detect 40 different types of steroids, masking agents and diuretics.
Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, Arum says Pacquiao plans to move forward with his defamation lawsuit against Mayweather. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who is negotiating for Mayweather, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Fight flap puts spotlight on boxing’s problems
Boxing always has been needlessly complex. Instead of one sanctioning body that awards world titles, there are four.
Instead of eight weight classes for fighters to compete in, as there were for much of the sport’s existence, there are 17.
Instead of just one world champion in each class, there are champions, super champions, interim champions, champions-in-recess and champions emeritus.
Two of the primary sanctioning bodies, the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council, refer to the newer classes as “super,” as in super featherweight, super lightweight and super welterweight. The World Boxing Organization and the International Boxing Federation refer to the same new classes as “junior,” as in junior lightweight, junior welterweight and junior middleweight.
None of that insanity can top the comic absurdity that has come up during the negotiations to finalize a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. When a journalist referred to Golden Boy Promotions as Mayweather’s promoter, Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s best friend and the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, quickly offered a correction.
Golden Boy Promotions does not, Ellerbe said emphatically, promote Mayweather Jr.
“Floyd Mayweather is promoted by Mayweather Promotions,” Ellerbe said.
Yet, Golden Boy CEO is handling negotiations for Mayweather’s side with Top Rank, first with company founder Bob Arum and later with its president, Todd duBoef. Top Rank promotes Pacquiao.
But – and in boxing, there’s always a but – Top Rank isn’t Pacquiao’s sole promoter. Pacquiao signed contracts with both Golden Boy and Top Rank in 2006. Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya was so eager to sign Pacquiao that he met him at Los Angeles International Airport and presented him with a suitcase filled with $250,000 in cash as an inducement to sign.
Top Rank sued. Golden Boy countersued. After many months and much rancor, the sides submitted to an arbitrator, who awarded each side a piece of Pacquiao. Top Rank is the primary promoter, but Golden Boy gets a percentage of profit from each Pacquiao fight. So, this scenario had Pacquiao’s co-promoter representing Mayweather negotiating with Pacquiao’s primary promoter.
Arum, though, said he’s contacted his attorneys in a bid to end the arrangement. He said Golden Boy’s conduct in the dispute over the drug testing was so egregious and against Pacquiao’s interests that it should forfeit its interest in him.
Arum said he will go back to the arbiter and attempt to have Golden Boy removed.
“What [Richard] Schaefer has done has been unconscionable,” Arum roared.
Schaefer, who has been the target of many Arum broadsides over the years, was hardly affected. “I’m not worried about it,” he said. “We have done nothing wrong and I know I can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and be happy with who I see.” It’s not a major point and it has nothing to do with whether the fight gets made or not. But it’s just another little absurdity in a sport filled with them.
If the fight does go forward, it will match men who are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the Yahoo! Sports rankings. Pacquiao garnered 28 first-place votes of the 31 cast, while Mayweather landed the other three.
And despite the complexities inherent in boxing, the Yahoo! Sports rankings are simple. The journalists, who represent six countries on three continents, are asked to vote for the men they feel are the best boxers in the world, regardless of weight class.
The only restrictions the voters face is that they aren’t allowed to vote for a fighter suspended by a regulatory agency and fighters who have not been active in the past 12 months are inactive.
Pacquiao landed 28 first-place votes and three seconds. Mayweather, who was a unanimous No. 1 before he announced a brief retirement in June 2008, received three first-place votes, 27 seconds and one third.
Source: yahoo.com
Instead of eight weight classes for fighters to compete in, as there were for much of the sport’s existence, there are 17.
Instead of just one world champion in each class, there are champions, super champions, interim champions, champions-in-recess and champions emeritus.
Two of the primary sanctioning bodies, the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council, refer to the newer classes as “super,” as in super featherweight, super lightweight and super welterweight. The World Boxing Organization and the International Boxing Federation refer to the same new classes as “junior,” as in junior lightweight, junior welterweight and junior middleweight.
None of that insanity can top the comic absurdity that has come up during the negotiations to finalize a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. When a journalist referred to Golden Boy Promotions as Mayweather’s promoter, Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s best friend and the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, quickly offered a correction.
Golden Boy Promotions does not, Ellerbe said emphatically, promote Mayweather Jr.
“Floyd Mayweather is promoted by Mayweather Promotions,” Ellerbe said.
Yet, Golden Boy CEO is handling negotiations for Mayweather’s side with Top Rank, first with company founder Bob Arum and later with its president, Todd duBoef. Top Rank promotes Pacquiao.
But – and in boxing, there’s always a but – Top Rank isn’t Pacquiao’s sole promoter. Pacquiao signed contracts with both Golden Boy and Top Rank in 2006. Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya was so eager to sign Pacquiao that he met him at Los Angeles International Airport and presented him with a suitcase filled with $250,000 in cash as an inducement to sign.
Top Rank sued. Golden Boy countersued. After many months and much rancor, the sides submitted to an arbitrator, who awarded each side a piece of Pacquiao. Top Rank is the primary promoter, but Golden Boy gets a percentage of profit from each Pacquiao fight. So, this scenario had Pacquiao’s co-promoter representing Mayweather negotiating with Pacquiao’s primary promoter.
Arum, though, said he’s contacted his attorneys in a bid to end the arrangement. He said Golden Boy’s conduct in the dispute over the drug testing was so egregious and against Pacquiao’s interests that it should forfeit its interest in him.
Arum said he will go back to the arbiter and attempt to have Golden Boy removed.
“What [Richard] Schaefer has done has been unconscionable,” Arum roared.
Schaefer, who has been the target of many Arum broadsides over the years, was hardly affected. “I’m not worried about it,” he said. “We have done nothing wrong and I know I can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and be happy with who I see.” It’s not a major point and it has nothing to do with whether the fight gets made or not. But it’s just another little absurdity in a sport filled with them.
If the fight does go forward, it will match men who are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the Yahoo! Sports rankings. Pacquiao garnered 28 first-place votes of the 31 cast, while Mayweather landed the other three.
And despite the complexities inherent in boxing, the Yahoo! Sports rankings are simple. The journalists, who represent six countries on three continents, are asked to vote for the men they feel are the best boxers in the world, regardless of weight class.
The only restrictions the voters face is that they aren’t allowed to vote for a fighter suspended by a regulatory agency and fighters who have not been active in the past 12 months are inactive.
Pacquiao landed 28 first-place votes and three seconds. Mayweather, who was a unanimous No. 1 before he announced a brief retirement in June 2008, received three first-place votes, 27 seconds and one third.
Source: yahoo.com
Bring In Judge Weinstein In the Pacquiao-Mayweather Negotiations
Arum and Schaefer enlisted the service of Weinstein,who successfully helped resolve lawsuits between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions three years ago. It is now time to bring in the high profile mediator in the Pacquiao-Mayweather boxing negotiations.
In mid- 2007, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have reached a settlement of their various legal disputes, including promotional rights on the Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Dan Rafael of ESPN sports reported in his column the words uttered by the heads of two promotional firms regarding Daniel Weinstein.
"He played a very instrumental role," Schaefer said of the retired judge. "If not for him, I don't think we could have done this. He really took ownership of the case and understood how delicate it was."
"Anybody who tells somebody not to use a mediator in this kind of situation is out of their mind. This guy was tremendous in getting both of us to realize how destructive our conduct was and how productive it would be to work together. You need a guy like that to mediate the dispute and see the broader picture."said Arum.
The settlement paved way for great fights to happen like the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch and Pacquiao-De la Hoya encounter.
Top Rank and Golden Boy have a history of legal disputes. It is important to bring in a high profile mediator in the negotiations before everything spirals out of control.
The conflict between Pacquiao and the Mayweathers has not reach the courtroom yet.
The promoters should avoid things becoming more ugly. Bringing someone early is the logical thing to do even though it would cost them a lot of money. But the sum paid to the mediator is nothing compared to what fighters and promoters will earn when the megafight between Pacquiao and Mayweather would push through.
Bring In Weinstein if Top Rank and Golden Boy are not able to resolve issues in the negotiation. It is in the interest of boxing and fans for this fight to happen.
Source: digitaljournal.com
In mid- 2007, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions have reached a settlement of their various legal disputes, including promotional rights on the Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Dan Rafael of ESPN sports reported in his column the words uttered by the heads of two promotional firms regarding Daniel Weinstein.
"He played a very instrumental role," Schaefer said of the retired judge. "If not for him, I don't think we could have done this. He really took ownership of the case and understood how delicate it was."
"Anybody who tells somebody not to use a mediator in this kind of situation is out of their mind. This guy was tremendous in getting both of us to realize how destructive our conduct was and how productive it would be to work together. You need a guy like that to mediate the dispute and see the broader picture."said Arum.
The settlement paved way for great fights to happen like the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch and Pacquiao-De la Hoya encounter.
Top Rank and Golden Boy have a history of legal disputes. It is important to bring in a high profile mediator in the negotiations before everything spirals out of control.
The conflict between Pacquiao and the Mayweathers has not reach the courtroom yet.
The promoters should avoid things becoming more ugly. Bringing someone early is the logical thing to do even though it would cost them a lot of money. But the sum paid to the mediator is nothing compared to what fighters and promoters will earn when the megafight between Pacquiao and Mayweather would push through.
Bring In Weinstein if Top Rank and Golden Boy are not able to resolve issues in the negotiation. It is in the interest of boxing and fans for this fight to happen.
Source: digitaljournal.com
WBC Jose Sulaiman advises Pacquiao
WBC President Don Jose Sulaiman has advised pound-for-pound king, winner of the coveted “Diamond Belt” and the premier boxing organizations accolade as “Boxer of the Year” Manny Pacquiao to tell Floyd Mayweather Jr that “if he doesn’t want to fight him let him go to hell.”
Sulaiman told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports from his home in Mexico “Manny has had many WBC title fights . He’s always been clean. I know him as a decent, exceptional, clean person and I don’t think it was fair” for such allegations about being on performance-enhancing drugs to be made.
Sulaiman stressed “he shouldn’t worry, he’s clean. If Mayweather doesn’t want to fight him, let him go to hell.”
The WBC president also noted that Golden Boy Promotions and CEO Richard Schaefer don’t like Pacquiao “because they had him before and now he’s not with them and that’s why they attack him this way and it’s not fair.”
Sulaiman said Schaefer “is a very good finance man but he knows very, very little about boxing. He used to be a very nice person but he has changed badly.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who is on holiday in Mexico earlier came out strongly in support of Pacquiao’s decision to sue Schaefer and Floyd Mayweather Sr and his son, undefeated former pound-for-pound No.1 Floyd Mayweather Jr, for libel, slander and defamation.
In an overseas telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Arum said “I am so delighted that he (Pacquiao) is standing up outside the ring like a man, just like he does in the ring.”
Pacquiao had earlier indicated to us that he didn’t wish to dignify the statements made by Mayweather Sr and Schaefer and give them the publicity and attention they were looking for but said in a subsequent statement that enough is enough and that his character and person have been questioned, maligned, damaged and tarnished by baseless and false accusations he has instructed Arum and his own lawyers to file a lawsuit against those who have accused him of taking performance-enhancing drugs without a shred of evidence.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told us Sunday afternoon that Pacquiao was spending time with his family while attending to some personal issues in his hometown of General Santos City and that Pacquiao doesn’t wish to say anything more on the topic.
The founding secretary general of the World Boxing Council, eminent lawyer-sportsman Rudy Salud said “I’ve been waiting for them (Pacquiao and Arum) to do that. They have all the right to do that and they will win that case. They cannot deny the statements in which they have accused Pacquiao without any evidence. They are caught. No way for them to get out of that.”
Salud said “now they have to prove their accusations and cannot force him to undergo any test to prove his innocence under any specific system because of the presumption of innocence.” Salud added that in court Pacquiao “can prove that by way of the drug tests conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which they can present as evidence, that he has been tested so many times and found to be clean of any drugs.”
In a statement issued Christmas morning in the Philippines, Pacquiao was quoted as saying “these people think it’s a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. I have tried to just brush it off as a mere pre-fight ploy but I think they have gone overboard.”
“I have instructed my promoter, Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Inc., to help me out in the filing of the case as soon as possible because I have had people coming over to me now asking if I really take performance-enhancing drugs and I have cheated my way into becoming the No. 1 boxer in the world.”
There are indications that all options would be studied by the top-notch lawyers likely to be retained by Arum and Pacquiao and that libel, slander and defamation suits are expected to be filed against those who made the statements on TV and in several newspapers and internet sites.
Pacquiao was named “Fighter of the Year” by the prestigious Sports Illustrated, was also chosen “Fighter of the Year” twice before and is a cinch to win the award for 2009 and is way ahead of golfing great Tiger Woods in ESPN’s Goodyear “Champion of Champions” balloting. Pacquiao was the first Filipino boxer to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. He has won every conceivable award in the sport and has been acknowledged as the “Hero of Asia” for his achievements in the ring, his humility, his generous assistance to the poor and his concern for his countrymen as well as his help in promoting the careers of other promising Filipino boxers and the unsubstantiated allegations made against him have incensed millions of his countrymen.
Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions have maintained that Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao unless he took an Olympic-style drug-test handled by the US Anti Doping Agency or USADA. Pacquiao and Arum agreed to be tested one day before the kickoff press conference, 30 days before the fight and immediately after the fight in the dressing room stressing that if he was taking drugs it would surely come out. But Mayweathers handlers insisted on having it their way.
Arum, as a way of saving the fight agreed to have Pacquiao tested by the agency that tests professional players in the NBA, NFL and MBL but that too was turned down, prompting Arum, Pacquiao, celebrated trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning expert Alex Ariza to claim that Mayweather was looking for a way out because he was scared of Pacquiao who was ready to give him, as Ariza said, “the beating of his life.”
Pacquiao, in his statement reiterated what he’s said before, “I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it.”
Pacquiao, supported by Arum, Roach and Ariza stated “I have no idea what steroids look like and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years.”
In a direct challenge to Mayweather Jr Pacquiao said “don’t be a coward and face me in the ring, mano-a-mano and shut your big, pretty mouth, so we can show the world who is the true king of the ring.”
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz confirmed to us that Pacquiao, has been contemplating on filing a case against Mayweather Sr. even before the start of his Nov. 14 fight with Miguel Angel Cotto. He said then that he “ did not sue because he did not want to get distracted during that time” because as Pacquiao himself said he was preparing for one of the toughest fights of his career.
Koncz told us that Pacquiao is not against any form of drug testing mandated by any state athletic sports commission and in fact supports the effort to keep all athletic disciplines free of drugs because athletes are role models for the youth. It was noted that Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer has often maintained that Pacquiao has been tested before and after every fight in Las Vegas and had been found free of any performance enhancing drugs or steroids.
Source: philboxing.com
Sulaiman told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports from his home in Mexico “Manny has had many WBC title fights . He’s always been clean. I know him as a decent, exceptional, clean person and I don’t think it was fair” for such allegations about being on performance-enhancing drugs to be made.
Sulaiman stressed “he shouldn’t worry, he’s clean. If Mayweather doesn’t want to fight him, let him go to hell.”
The WBC president also noted that Golden Boy Promotions and CEO Richard Schaefer don’t like Pacquiao “because they had him before and now he’s not with them and that’s why they attack him this way and it’s not fair.”
Sulaiman said Schaefer “is a very good finance man but he knows very, very little about boxing. He used to be a very nice person but he has changed badly.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who is on holiday in Mexico earlier came out strongly in support of Pacquiao’s decision to sue Schaefer and Floyd Mayweather Sr and his son, undefeated former pound-for-pound No.1 Floyd Mayweather Jr, for libel, slander and defamation.
In an overseas telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Arum said “I am so delighted that he (Pacquiao) is standing up outside the ring like a man, just like he does in the ring.”
Pacquiao had earlier indicated to us that he didn’t wish to dignify the statements made by Mayweather Sr and Schaefer and give them the publicity and attention they were looking for but said in a subsequent statement that enough is enough and that his character and person have been questioned, maligned, damaged and tarnished by baseless and false accusations he has instructed Arum and his own lawyers to file a lawsuit against those who have accused him of taking performance-enhancing drugs without a shred of evidence.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told us Sunday afternoon that Pacquiao was spending time with his family while attending to some personal issues in his hometown of General Santos City and that Pacquiao doesn’t wish to say anything more on the topic.
The founding secretary general of the World Boxing Council, eminent lawyer-sportsman Rudy Salud said “I’ve been waiting for them (Pacquiao and Arum) to do that. They have all the right to do that and they will win that case. They cannot deny the statements in which they have accused Pacquiao without any evidence. They are caught. No way for them to get out of that.”
Salud said “now they have to prove their accusations and cannot force him to undergo any test to prove his innocence under any specific system because of the presumption of innocence.” Salud added that in court Pacquiao “can prove that by way of the drug tests conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which they can present as evidence, that he has been tested so many times and found to be clean of any drugs.”
In a statement issued Christmas morning in the Philippines, Pacquiao was quoted as saying “these people think it’s a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. I have tried to just brush it off as a mere pre-fight ploy but I think they have gone overboard.”
“I have instructed my promoter, Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Inc., to help me out in the filing of the case as soon as possible because I have had people coming over to me now asking if I really take performance-enhancing drugs and I have cheated my way into becoming the No. 1 boxer in the world.”
There are indications that all options would be studied by the top-notch lawyers likely to be retained by Arum and Pacquiao and that libel, slander and defamation suits are expected to be filed against those who made the statements on TV and in several newspapers and internet sites.
Pacquiao was named “Fighter of the Year” by the prestigious Sports Illustrated, was also chosen “Fighter of the Year” twice before and is a cinch to win the award for 2009 and is way ahead of golfing great Tiger Woods in ESPN’s Goodyear “Champion of Champions” balloting. Pacquiao was the first Filipino boxer to appear on the cover of Time Magazine. He has won every conceivable award in the sport and has been acknowledged as the “Hero of Asia” for his achievements in the ring, his humility, his generous assistance to the poor and his concern for his countrymen as well as his help in promoting the careers of other promising Filipino boxers and the unsubstantiated allegations made against him have incensed millions of his countrymen.
Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions have maintained that Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao unless he took an Olympic-style drug-test handled by the US Anti Doping Agency or USADA. Pacquiao and Arum agreed to be tested one day before the kickoff press conference, 30 days before the fight and immediately after the fight in the dressing room stressing that if he was taking drugs it would surely come out. But Mayweathers handlers insisted on having it their way.
Arum, as a way of saving the fight agreed to have Pacquiao tested by the agency that tests professional players in the NBA, NFL and MBL but that too was turned down, prompting Arum, Pacquiao, celebrated trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning expert Alex Ariza to claim that Mayweather was looking for a way out because he was scared of Pacquiao who was ready to give him, as Ariza said, “the beating of his life.”
Pacquiao, in his statement reiterated what he’s said before, “I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it.”
Pacquiao, supported by Arum, Roach and Ariza stated “I have no idea what steroids look like and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years.”
In a direct challenge to Mayweather Jr Pacquiao said “don’t be a coward and face me in the ring, mano-a-mano and shut your big, pretty mouth, so we can show the world who is the true king of the ring.”
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz confirmed to us that Pacquiao, has been contemplating on filing a case against Mayweather Sr. even before the start of his Nov. 14 fight with Miguel Angel Cotto. He said then that he “ did not sue because he did not want to get distracted during that time” because as Pacquiao himself said he was preparing for one of the toughest fights of his career.
Koncz told us that Pacquiao is not against any form of drug testing mandated by any state athletic sports commission and in fact supports the effort to keep all athletic disciplines free of drugs because athletes are role models for the youth. It was noted that Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer has often maintained that Pacquiao has been tested before and after every fight in Las Vegas and had been found free of any performance enhancing drugs or steroids.
Source: philboxing.com
Floyd camp softens stand on dope tests
For fear of the fight going down the drain, the camp of Floyd Mayweather Jr. has softened up a bit on its position that an Olympic-style drug testing be mandated on Manny Pacquiao to ensure a level playing field, Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) Chief Executive Officer Richard Schaefer said on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
“As long as there’s a blood test, as long as there’s a urine test and as long as it’s random, a [specificied] cutoff date is agreeable to us,” Schaefer told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. “We’re saying, ‘We’re OK,’ and we hope Pacquiao [and his promoter and trainer] are OK.”
Pacquiao and Mayweather have both agreed to face each other on March 13, 2010, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but a demand by Mayweather that Pacquiao be subjected to Olympic-style testing was met with opposition by Pacquiao’s people, including promoter Bob Arum, who declared the fight dead a few days ago.
Pacquiao’s camp said the testing being conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) should be more than enough to determine if the Filipino pound-for-pound king is taking banned substances.
Schaefer also told ESPN’s Dan Rafael that “we are OK to move off USADA, “What we’re saying, and what is important to us, is four things – that the tests be random, that they include blood and urine and the time frame, meaning when do you stop the tests before the fight but know they will still be effective. Three of them we have agreed on –random, blood and urine. So now it is a matter of the two sides working out the specifics of the cutoff date to assure it will still be effective.”
Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal was the least surprised over the new developments.
Speaking from General Santos City, Gacal said there’s no other choice but to make the fight with Pacquiao happen.
“I knew that they would revert back,” said Gacal.
Arum said if GBP petitions the NSAC that additional tests should be done on Pacquiao, he will respect it but cautioned that he will not allow Pacquiao to be tested during inappropriate
times.
“I will not let this kid get pushed around,” said Arum from his vacation spot in Mexico. Still, Schaefer said doing a compromise is a “two-way street.”
“The pressure is on Pacquiao,” he said. “They keep moving the goal post like they did with the $10-million weight penalty [if either fighter is over the contract maximum 147 pounds], which we agreed to. They didn’t think we would accept that. When we did, they had to find something else to make into a problem. So now they’re saying it’s up to the commission instead of wanting to negotiate the drug testing with us. I don’t want to hear that if the fight breaks up it was because of us. When they came to us with a $10 million weight penalty, they didn’t expect us to say yes. They thought we’d say no. So when we said yes, they had to come up with something else.”
“We are making compromises. It’s a two-way street. If they back off again, I will shut off my phone and spend the rest of the Christmas and New Year’s time with my family, and good luck to all of these fools,” said Schaefer, who represents Mayweather.
Source: mb.com.ph
“As long as there’s a blood test, as long as there’s a urine test and as long as it’s random, a [specificied] cutoff date is agreeable to us,” Schaefer told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. “We’re saying, ‘We’re OK,’ and we hope Pacquiao [and his promoter and trainer] are OK.”
Pacquiao and Mayweather have both agreed to face each other on March 13, 2010, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but a demand by Mayweather that Pacquiao be subjected to Olympic-style testing was met with opposition by Pacquiao’s people, including promoter Bob Arum, who declared the fight dead a few days ago.
Pacquiao’s camp said the testing being conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) should be more than enough to determine if the Filipino pound-for-pound king is taking banned substances.
Schaefer also told ESPN’s Dan Rafael that “we are OK to move off USADA, “What we’re saying, and what is important to us, is four things – that the tests be random, that they include blood and urine and the time frame, meaning when do you stop the tests before the fight but know they will still be effective. Three of them we have agreed on –random, blood and urine. So now it is a matter of the two sides working out the specifics of the cutoff date to assure it will still be effective.”
Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal was the least surprised over the new developments.
Speaking from General Santos City, Gacal said there’s no other choice but to make the fight with Pacquiao happen.
“I knew that they would revert back,” said Gacal.
Arum said if GBP petitions the NSAC that additional tests should be done on Pacquiao, he will respect it but cautioned that he will not allow Pacquiao to be tested during inappropriate
times.
“I will not let this kid get pushed around,” said Arum from his vacation spot in Mexico. Still, Schaefer said doing a compromise is a “two-way street.”
“The pressure is on Pacquiao,” he said. “They keep moving the goal post like they did with the $10-million weight penalty [if either fighter is over the contract maximum 147 pounds], which we agreed to. They didn’t think we would accept that. When we did, they had to find something else to make into a problem. So now they’re saying it’s up to the commission instead of wanting to negotiate the drug testing with us. I don’t want to hear that if the fight breaks up it was because of us. When they came to us with a $10 million weight penalty, they didn’t expect us to say yes. They thought we’d say no. So when we said yes, they had to come up with something else.”
“We are making compromises. It’s a two-way street. If they back off again, I will shut off my phone and spend the rest of the Christmas and New Year’s time with my family, and good luck to all of these fools,” said Schaefer, who represents Mayweather.
Source: mb.com.ph
Pacquiao: I'm not running away
Manny Pacquiao has reiterated his demand not to be blood tested within 30 days of a proposed showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jnr as rival promoters attempt to save the fight.
The Filipino was set to meet Mayweather Jnr on March 13 in Las Vegas but a dispute over the drug testing procedures is threatening to derail the long-awaited meeting between two of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
Mayweather Jnr wants US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) protocols, including random blood tests at any point before the fight, which was a deal breaker to Pacquiao, who said such tests too near the bout would weaken him.
"I'm still willing to fight Floyd Mayweather. I never said the fight was off or I do not want to fight him," Pacquiao said in a blog posting on his official website.
"I'll fight anyone at any time and my record and past fights prove that. I have never and will never dodge anyone."
On his unwillingness to allow himself to be blood tested close to fight day, he added: "The truth is taking blood out of my body does not seem natural to me and mentally I feel it will weaken me if blood is taken from me just days before the fight.
"That does not make sense to me, why anyone would do that."
Mayweather Jnr's representative, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer, told ESPN that he had backed off USADA rules but would insist upon testing within 30 days of the fight as representatives of rival promoters tried to thrash out a deal.
"We know that 30 days before is not effective. At 30 days, we might as well not even do it," Schaefer said.
"It is a matter of the two sides working out the specifics of the cut off date to assure it will still be effective."
Frustrating
Schaefer called the shifting positions in talks frustrating and questioned Pacquiao's desire to face Mayweather Jnr.
"I don't know how to explain it other than maybe Pacquiao doesn't want the Mayweather fight," he added.
Pacquiao, however, made his position equally clear in his posting.
"If Floyd Mayweather Jnr truly ever wanted to fight me and he is not really scared, he would accept these terms I am willing to give him as they are above and beyond what the (Nevada) commission demands," Pacquiao said.
"I hope Floyd is not really a coward and will fight me and give the fans what they want to see. I am not afraid to fight Floyd anywhere any time."
Source: skysports.com
Spat before fight is odd, even for boxing
File this latest boxing flap under the head-scratching heading of Man Bites Dog.
Prefight controversies designed to expand pugilism’s narrow niche audience are predictable, transparent and generally tedious. Yet when a match as compelling and potentially lucrative as Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. founders on matters of integrity and principle, well, that’s startling stuff.
This is, remember, boxing.
Mayweather’s insistence on stringent Olympic-style drug testing and his corner’s presumption of Pacquiao’s chemical culpability have clouded their scheduled March 13 megabout and, theoretically, could lead to its cancellation.
Maybe it’s all hype. Maybe the issue is being aired as advertising, as goading gamesmanship or as a calculated effort by Camp Mayweather to establish an excuse for backing out and/or getting beat.
Given boxing’s historic corruption, prevailing anarchy and eroding share of the market for vicarious violence, arched eyebrows are certainly warranted. But with accusations flying like so many left jabs, with Pacquiao threatening a defamation suit and with promoter Bob Arum purportedly exploring alternative matchups, it’s conceivable that the combatants are prepared to leave many millions on the table rather than concede this sticky bargaining point.
Instinct says the two sides will settle, that there’s too much money at stake (perhaps more than $30 million per man) for this deal to die over drug-testing protocols. Moreover, having already scored some points by painting Pacquiao into a guilty-until-proven-innocent corner, Mayweather can now retreat to his corner with a ready-made alibi.
The situation remains fluid. Yesterday, ESPN.com reported the Mayweather camp dropped its demand that the testing be administered by USADA. Meanwhile, Top Rank’s Arum indicated Pacquiao would only agree to blood tests at the unlikely request of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Stay tuned. Which, of course, is exactly what the promoters want you to do.
Despite an appalling lack of evidence, Mayweather has planted the idea that Pacquiao’s brilliant career has been a fraud, and he has left his opponent with a ponderous burden of proof. If Pacquiao does not consent to Olympic-style testing, which could involve drawing blood on the day of the fight, he will create doubt about all he has done. If Pacquiao backs down, he will do so while playing Mayweather’s game.
Given their ability, egos and financial incentives, it is hard to imagine that the two men who have agreed to fight at 147 pounds won’t eventually do so in the ring rather than the courtroom. Still, this impasse illustrates boxing’s need for a central regulatory body that establishes and enforces the rules of engagement for all contestants.
Individual boxers should not be negotiating drug-testing standards on a bout-to-bout basis, no more than they should be dickering over the dimensions of the ring, the weight of their gloves or the number of rounds. Yet in the absence of any sanctioning body that can be taken seriously, boxing negotiations are inevitably about leverage rather than creating a level punching field.
Anyone who climbs into the ring at the risk of being beaten senseless is entitled to neutral conditions, consistent standards, an unbiased application of the rules and impartial enforcement of policy.
Boxing, however, operates on the premise that everything is negotiable and that most things can be manipulated.
Absent an evenhanded administration, challengers are often compelled to confront champions at financial and strategic disadvantages. Perhaps the champion deserves a bigger share of the purse for putting his title in play, but allowing him to impose competitive conditions runs counter to the basic concept of fair competition.
Distasteful and distrustful as it is, drug testing has become a vital interest of professional sports, and I’m not referring to the comparatively cursory form that exists in Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Absent a reliable urine test for Human Growth Hormone, the primary values of big-league drug tests are appearances and deniability.
Yet that doesn’t mean Olympic-style scrutiny, which entails random, unannounced blood testing, should be enacted on the arbitrary, ad hoc basis Mayweather has demanded. A fighter should enter the ring with a reasonable expectation that his opponent is clean, but drug testing should not be conducted on the vigilante or tactical basis being sought here.
Pacquiao’s problem is how to avoid it now without giving the appearance of guilt.
“I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it,” Pacquiao said in a statement posted on his Web site. “I have no idea what steroids look like, and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years.
“Now, I say to Floyd Mayweather Jr., don’t be a coward and face me in the ring, mano-a-mano, and shut your big, pretty mouth so we can show the world who is the true king of the ring.”
Because this is boxing, the default expectation is that if cooler heads cannot prevail, cold cash can. Ultimately, Pacquiao and Mayweather must weigh their positions against the largest payday of their careers.
If the money doesn’t win out, file that, too, under Man Bites Dog.
Source: signonsandiego.com
Pacquiao gives ultimatum to Mayweather
MANILA, Philippines – Despite his plan to file a complaint against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and his camp for the doping accusations hurled against him, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao said he still wants to face the undefeated American fighter.
“I'm still willing to fight Floyd Mayweather. I never said the fight was off or I do not want to fight him,” Pacquiao told Agence France-Presse.
The 7-division world champion maintained though that he will only face Mayweather if the American boxer accedes to this term – that the Filipino boxer undergoes blood testing only 30 days before the March 13 fight.
Pacquiao also agreed to unlimited urine testing plus a blood test when the fight news conference kicks off in January and another one right after the fight.
“If Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not accept these terms, then my promoter will find me another fight for March 13,” declared Pacquiao.
Negotiations for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout reached a standstill because of a disagreement on the drug testing procedure that should be used.
But the fighters’ camps made some progress over the weekend as they made some concessions on the drug testing issue.
Source: abs-cbnnews.com
“I'm still willing to fight Floyd Mayweather. I never said the fight was off or I do not want to fight him,” Pacquiao told Agence France-Presse.
The 7-division world champion maintained though that he will only face Mayweather if the American boxer accedes to this term – that the Filipino boxer undergoes blood testing only 30 days before the March 13 fight.
Pacquiao also agreed to unlimited urine testing plus a blood test when the fight news conference kicks off in January and another one right after the fight.
“If Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not accept these terms, then my promoter will find me another fight for March 13,” declared Pacquiao.
Negotiations for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout reached a standstill because of a disagreement on the drug testing procedure that should be used.
But the fighters’ camps made some progress over the weekend as they made some concessions on the drug testing issue.
Source: abs-cbnnews.com
Saturday, December 26, 2009
We are OK to move off USADA - Schaefer
There was movement by the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao camps Saturday in the battle over how to handle drug testing for their tentative March 13 super fight, but the sides remain at a stalemate in an increasingly nasty negotiation that threatens a fight many predict would be the highest-grossing bout in history.
With all of the other points agreed to for the blockbuster HBO PPV welterweight title bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the drug testing protocol is the final sticking point.
Mayweather -- whose father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., has accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing substances without any proof -- had been demanding the inflexible Olympic-style testing conducted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. That would mean Mayweather and Pacquiao would be subject to random blood and urine tests all the way up to the fight and immediately following it.
Pacquiao objected, in part, because he and his team want assurances that testing would be cut off at a predetermined time before the fight.
Mayweather changed his stance Saturday, moving off the hard line he had taken on using USADA as the testing agency.
"We are OK to move off USADA," Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who is representing Mayweather, told ESPN.com. "What we're saying, and what is important to us, is four things -- that the tests be random, that they include blood and urine and the time frame, meaning when do you stop the tests before the fight but know they will still be effective. Three of them we have agreed on -- random, blood and urine. So now it is a matter of the two sides working out the specifics of the cutoff date to assure it will still be effective."
Schaefer said those talks are taking place between Bruce Binkow, a high-level Golden Boy executive, and Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter.
"Todd and Bruce are trying to work out the specifics of the cutoff to assure the tests are still effective because we know that 30 days before is not effective," Schaefer said. "At 30 days, we might as well not even do it. We want to figure it out [the cutoff window] and I will give my recommendation to Team Mayweather, and they will be on board. USADA is the most recognized one, but if it's another one, like the Nevada commission, we don't really care. I don't care who performs the tests as long as they are performed. That's our position. If this fight doesn't happen it's not because of Team Mayweather."
Pacquiao agreed to unlimited urine testing and at least three blood tests, one in early January around the time of the kickoff news conference, one 30 days before the fight and another in the dressing room after the fight. When Mayweather was insisting on USADA, Top Rank chief Bob Arum said Pacquiao was willing to revisit the number of tests as long as they used some other agency, one with which they could negotiate the protocol and assure Pacquiao that he would at least not be tested in the middle of the night or in the few days leading up to the bout.
On Friday, Arum said their side was willing to sit down with Golden Boy and the Nevada State Athletic Commission to work out the details of the testing. Nevada only requires a prefight and a postfight urine test, although it could also test blood if the sides asked.
But on Saturday, Arum, speaking from his vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, backtracked, saying even the three tests were out the window -- unless Nevada asked for them, which Arum knows is unlikely.
"Our position is that since the fight would be in Nevada, let [the Mayweather side] make any petition it wants to the commission," Arum said. "We wash our hands of it. If the commission wants to take blood, fine. We don't care. But we're not going to pander to this petty bull---- about how many days before the fight they can test and so forth. Who are they [Golden Boy] to tell Manny what he's supposed to do? How many times did [Golden Boy boss] Oscar De La Hoya ever give blood before a fight? I will not let this kid get pushed around.
"If they go to the commission and they ask for blood tests and the commission says yes, we will do whatever the commission says. The commission says blood testing, we'll do blood testing. We're not going to help it or oppose it. We're not going to give any credence to this nonsense. They want to sign a contract under the rules of the commission, fine. We don't want the fight if it means Manny is going to be pushed around. Let the commission tell us how many days in front they want blood. Let the commission pick a date to stop taking blood. We trust the commission. Blood testing we think is unnecessary, but fine, we'll do it. But let the commission set the parameters. Let Golden Boy approach the commission and say we want to take blood when he's walking into the ring. Whatever the commission wants to do we will support, but we won't take part in this exercise in nonsense, a procedure which is contrary to how boxing has been conducted in Nevada for 40 years. The burden is not on us to tell the commission what to do."
Arum's appeal for the commission to handle matters may be hollow because although it has protocols in place for random urine testing during training camps, it doesn't for blood testing, and to put it in place in time for a March 13 fight is unlikely, according to Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada commission.
"We're very confident that urine tests by themselves cover everything that needs to be covered, but if the camps want to do additional testing through a third party they are welcome to, as long as they also adhere to commission rules," Kizer told ESPN.com. "Urine testing we could run with today. We could test their urine every day from now until March 13. But blood testing is trickier because we don't require it. If the commission wanted to change the rule it would have to be at a public meeting and, at the earliest, that would be early to mid-January. We have done some urine testing during training camps. We have those protocols in place. Blood testing is a different story.
"We'd have to put it on a commission agenda. Golden Boy or Top Rank or both could ask for blood testing and we'd look into it. Whether it would go anywhere, that's up to the commission to decide. As of now, there are no plans for a special commission meeting, nor has one been requested from either side."
The promoters and HBO hoped to have the fight signed and formally announced at a news conference the first week of January. If they can't iron out the particulars on blood testing until a commission meeting, likely around Jan. 13, it would make finalizing the bout unlikely until at least then.
Schaefer believes that Arum's position of leaving it up to the commission is him "moving the goal post."
"The pressure is on Pacquiao," he said. "They keep moving the goal post like they did with the $10 million weight penalty [if either fighter is over the contract maximum 147 pounds], which we agreed to. They didn't think we would accept that. When we did, they had to find something else to make into a problem. So now they're saying it's up to the commission instead of wanting to negotiate the drug testing with us. I don't want to hear that if the fight breaks up it was because of us. When they came to us with a $10 million weight penalty, they didn't expect us to say yes. They thought we'd say no. So when we said yes, they had to come up with something else. Now we're off USADA, and they are going to come and say only urine testing if that's what the commission says. It's really frustrating.
"We are making compromises. It's a two-way street. If they back off again, I will shut off my phone and spend the rest of the Christmas and New Year's time with my family, and good luck to all of these fools."
While Arum is making plans for an alternative fight for Pacquiao against former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi -- who has also accused Pacquiao of using PEDs -- if the Mayweather fight falls apart, Schaefer said he hasn't discussed an alternative with Mayweather.
"We haven't discussed anybody else because the fight we want to bring to the fight fans is the one with Pacquiao," he said. "The focus is on getting Mayweather-Pacquiao done while Bob is making calls everywhere on the Malignaggi fight. That shows his focus is not on Mayweather.
"How ridiculous is that that Pacquiao would go and fight the guy who makes accusations that he uses performance-enhancing drugs instead of Mayweather [Jr.], who didn't make those accusations? Something is not right. I don't know how to explain it other than maybe Pacquiao doesn't want the Mayweather fight."
Source: espn.go.com
With all of the other points agreed to for the blockbuster HBO PPV welterweight title bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the drug testing protocol is the final sticking point.
Mayweather -- whose father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., has accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing substances without any proof -- had been demanding the inflexible Olympic-style testing conducted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. That would mean Mayweather and Pacquiao would be subject to random blood and urine tests all the way up to the fight and immediately following it.
Pacquiao objected, in part, because he and his team want assurances that testing would be cut off at a predetermined time before the fight.
Mayweather changed his stance Saturday, moving off the hard line he had taken on using USADA as the testing agency.
"We are OK to move off USADA," Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who is representing Mayweather, told ESPN.com. "What we're saying, and what is important to us, is four things -- that the tests be random, that they include blood and urine and the time frame, meaning when do you stop the tests before the fight but know they will still be effective. Three of them we have agreed on -- random, blood and urine. So now it is a matter of the two sides working out the specifics of the cutoff date to assure it will still be effective."
Schaefer said those talks are taking place between Bruce Binkow, a high-level Golden Boy executive, and Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank, Pacquiao's promoter.
"Todd and Bruce are trying to work out the specifics of the cutoff to assure the tests are still effective because we know that 30 days before is not effective," Schaefer said. "At 30 days, we might as well not even do it. We want to figure it out [the cutoff window] and I will give my recommendation to Team Mayweather, and they will be on board. USADA is the most recognized one, but if it's another one, like the Nevada commission, we don't really care. I don't care who performs the tests as long as they are performed. That's our position. If this fight doesn't happen it's not because of Team Mayweather."
Pacquiao agreed to unlimited urine testing and at least three blood tests, one in early January around the time of the kickoff news conference, one 30 days before the fight and another in the dressing room after the fight. When Mayweather was insisting on USADA, Top Rank chief Bob Arum said Pacquiao was willing to revisit the number of tests as long as they used some other agency, one with which they could negotiate the protocol and assure Pacquiao that he would at least not be tested in the middle of the night or in the few days leading up to the bout.
On Friday, Arum said their side was willing to sit down with Golden Boy and the Nevada State Athletic Commission to work out the details of the testing. Nevada only requires a prefight and a postfight urine test, although it could also test blood if the sides asked.
But on Saturday, Arum, speaking from his vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, backtracked, saying even the three tests were out the window -- unless Nevada asked for them, which Arum knows is unlikely.
"Our position is that since the fight would be in Nevada, let [the Mayweather side] make any petition it wants to the commission," Arum said. "We wash our hands of it. If the commission wants to take blood, fine. We don't care. But we're not going to pander to this petty bull---- about how many days before the fight they can test and so forth. Who are they [Golden Boy] to tell Manny what he's supposed to do? How many times did [Golden Boy boss] Oscar De La Hoya ever give blood before a fight? I will not let this kid get pushed around.
"If they go to the commission and they ask for blood tests and the commission says yes, we will do whatever the commission says. The commission says blood testing, we'll do blood testing. We're not going to help it or oppose it. We're not going to give any credence to this nonsense. They want to sign a contract under the rules of the commission, fine. We don't want the fight if it means Manny is going to be pushed around. Let the commission tell us how many days in front they want blood. Let the commission pick a date to stop taking blood. We trust the commission. Blood testing we think is unnecessary, but fine, we'll do it. But let the commission set the parameters. Let Golden Boy approach the commission and say we want to take blood when he's walking into the ring. Whatever the commission wants to do we will support, but we won't take part in this exercise in nonsense, a procedure which is contrary to how boxing has been conducted in Nevada for 40 years. The burden is not on us to tell the commission what to do."
Arum's appeal for the commission to handle matters may be hollow because although it has protocols in place for random urine testing during training camps, it doesn't for blood testing, and to put it in place in time for a March 13 fight is unlikely, according to Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada commission.
"We're very confident that urine tests by themselves cover everything that needs to be covered, but if the camps want to do additional testing through a third party they are welcome to, as long as they also adhere to commission rules," Kizer told ESPN.com. "Urine testing we could run with today. We could test their urine every day from now until March 13. But blood testing is trickier because we don't require it. If the commission wanted to change the rule it would have to be at a public meeting and, at the earliest, that would be early to mid-January. We have done some urine testing during training camps. We have those protocols in place. Blood testing is a different story.
"We'd have to put it on a commission agenda. Golden Boy or Top Rank or both could ask for blood testing and we'd look into it. Whether it would go anywhere, that's up to the commission to decide. As of now, there are no plans for a special commission meeting, nor has one been requested from either side."
The promoters and HBO hoped to have the fight signed and formally announced at a news conference the first week of January. If they can't iron out the particulars on blood testing until a commission meeting, likely around Jan. 13, it would make finalizing the bout unlikely until at least then.
Schaefer believes that Arum's position of leaving it up to the commission is him "moving the goal post."
"The pressure is on Pacquiao," he said. "They keep moving the goal post like they did with the $10 million weight penalty [if either fighter is over the contract maximum 147 pounds], which we agreed to. They didn't think we would accept that. When we did, they had to find something else to make into a problem. So now they're saying it's up to the commission instead of wanting to negotiate the drug testing with us. I don't want to hear that if the fight breaks up it was because of us. When they came to us with a $10 million weight penalty, they didn't expect us to say yes. They thought we'd say no. So when we said yes, they had to come up with something else. Now we're off USADA, and they are going to come and say only urine testing if that's what the commission says. It's really frustrating.
"We are making compromises. It's a two-way street. If they back off again, I will shut off my phone and spend the rest of the Christmas and New Year's time with my family, and good luck to all of these fools."
While Arum is making plans for an alternative fight for Pacquiao against former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi -- who has also accused Pacquiao of using PEDs -- if the Mayweather fight falls apart, Schaefer said he hasn't discussed an alternative with Mayweather.
"We haven't discussed anybody else because the fight we want to bring to the fight fans is the one with Pacquiao," he said. "The focus is on getting Mayweather-Pacquiao done while Bob is making calls everywhere on the Malignaggi fight. That shows his focus is not on Mayweather.
"How ridiculous is that that Pacquiao would go and fight the guy who makes accusations that he uses performance-enhancing drugs instead of Mayweather [Jr.], who didn't make those accusations? Something is not right. I don't know how to explain it other than maybe Pacquiao doesn't want the Mayweather fight."
Source: espn.go.com
Floyd is worried about getting a fair fight? Please…Lose the hypocrisy
With all of the talk going on, it is easy to lose a rational perspective on the potential March 13 super fight because of all the bickering about the pre-fight testing for the Mayweather – Pacquiao showdown. Let’s take a minute to look at some of the facts as they were seen in the very recent past.
1) For both the Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton fights, an argument against a probable Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao victory was that he was a “pumped-up little man” who had finally reached a weight too heavy for him to be a legitimate competitor.
Clearly, the fact that he began his career as a smaller/lighter boxer was seen as a MAJOR disadvantage for him against those naturally heavier opponents. Suddenly, Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (the bigger, heavier fighter who is fighting at his natural weight) is expressing concern that the smaller, lighter Pacquiao (who has to eat 7,000 calories a day to maintain the weight) might have an advantage over him, and that he is afraid that he will not be able to have a fair fight against the “little man”.
Where are all of the voices now that only recently were so eloquently expounding on the DISADVANTAGE that Pacquiao had in moving up the weight classes to fight men at their heavier natural weights? If Pacquiao was bigger than Mayweather, it might be a little easier to listen to “Money” suddenly sounding so pious about the pure principles of fair competition without feeling a sudden urge to vomit.
2) It seems to be a known fact that Pacquiao doesn’t like losing blood before a fight. I see patients nearly every day who have fears (sometimes very irrational ones ) about something that can cause them to manifest extremely dysfunctional behaviors. Healthy people sometimes are reduced to an incoherent sobbing mass of humanity because of the fear of some particular situation or circumstance.
In such cases, it is generally not possible to convince said person that there isn’t anything to worry about. For them, the reality seems very different than it does to you, the practitioner. Go ahead, call Pacquiao paranoid, or irrational to refuse the blood testing immediately before the fight. But, to insist on the change in the rules for this fight as opposed to using the rules in force for the Mayweather-Marquez fight, for instance, appears to be nothing more than an attempt by the Mayweather camp to get inside Pacquiao’s head and mess with it.
Forgive me if I sound excessively cynical, but hearing the bigger Mayweather complaining that he couldn’t get a fair fight from the smaller Pacquiao brings with it the stench of hypocrisy. I noticed that Mayweather gave himself quite a big advantage over Marquez by coming in over the weight limit, and thereby quite profoundly altering the dynamics of that fight. If you want to talk about fairness in competition versus giving yourself an unfair advantage, why don’t we start with Mayweather’s actions for the Marquez fight?
3) For most of us fans of boxing, the real issue in the Mayweather – Pacquiao fight quite simply comes down to this: Which boxer is better on a pound for pound basis, period. I personally do not believe that Pacquiao is using banned substances, but I must say that if he did, it wouldn’t bother me much. Boxing is an art, and no supplements or steroids can give a boxer the sense of timing, or the ability to bring punches from all angles in swift combination’s that both of these boxers posses.
Steroids will not increase the amount of the fast-twitch muscle fibers that allows for the blistering hand speed that both of these boxers exhibit. How about let’s cut some of the BS, follow the same rules that governed the Mayweather – Marquez fight, and see who the better man is inside the ring on March 13, 2010?
Source: nowboxing.com
1) For both the Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton fights, an argument against a probable Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao victory was that he was a “pumped-up little man” who had finally reached a weight too heavy for him to be a legitimate competitor.
Clearly, the fact that he began his career as a smaller/lighter boxer was seen as a MAJOR disadvantage for him against those naturally heavier opponents. Suddenly, Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (the bigger, heavier fighter who is fighting at his natural weight) is expressing concern that the smaller, lighter Pacquiao (who has to eat 7,000 calories a day to maintain the weight) might have an advantage over him, and that he is afraid that he will not be able to have a fair fight against the “little man”.
Where are all of the voices now that only recently were so eloquently expounding on the DISADVANTAGE that Pacquiao had in moving up the weight classes to fight men at their heavier natural weights? If Pacquiao was bigger than Mayweather, it might be a little easier to listen to “Money” suddenly sounding so pious about the pure principles of fair competition without feeling a sudden urge to vomit.
2) It seems to be a known fact that Pacquiao doesn’t like losing blood before a fight. I see patients nearly every day who have fears (sometimes very irrational ones ) about something that can cause them to manifest extremely dysfunctional behaviors. Healthy people sometimes are reduced to an incoherent sobbing mass of humanity because of the fear of some particular situation or circumstance.
In such cases, it is generally not possible to convince said person that there isn’t anything to worry about. For them, the reality seems very different than it does to you, the practitioner. Go ahead, call Pacquiao paranoid, or irrational to refuse the blood testing immediately before the fight. But, to insist on the change in the rules for this fight as opposed to using the rules in force for the Mayweather-Marquez fight, for instance, appears to be nothing more than an attempt by the Mayweather camp to get inside Pacquiao’s head and mess with it.
Forgive me if I sound excessively cynical, but hearing the bigger Mayweather complaining that he couldn’t get a fair fight from the smaller Pacquiao brings with it the stench of hypocrisy. I noticed that Mayweather gave himself quite a big advantage over Marquez by coming in over the weight limit, and thereby quite profoundly altering the dynamics of that fight. If you want to talk about fairness in competition versus giving yourself an unfair advantage, why don’t we start with Mayweather’s actions for the Marquez fight?
3) For most of us fans of boxing, the real issue in the Mayweather – Pacquiao fight quite simply comes down to this: Which boxer is better on a pound for pound basis, period. I personally do not believe that Pacquiao is using banned substances, but I must say that if he did, it wouldn’t bother me much. Boxing is an art, and no supplements or steroids can give a boxer the sense of timing, or the ability to bring punches from all angles in swift combination’s that both of these boxers posses.
Steroids will not increase the amount of the fast-twitch muscle fibers that allows for the blistering hand speed that both of these boxers exhibit. How about let’s cut some of the BS, follow the same rules that governed the Mayweather – Marquez fight, and see who the better man is inside the ring on March 13, 2010?
Source: nowboxing.com
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Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao