Freddie Roach: Fight against Floyd wont happen!

Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach remains pessimistic on the chances of his charge fighting Floyd Mayweather Jnr, despite the positive noises emanating from both camps over the past couple of weeks.

At a press conference to promote his September clash with Victor Ortiz, Mayweather confirmed he was "absolutely" interested in fighting Pacquiao for the title of the planet's pound-for-pound king.

Then, more importantly, Pacquiao's trainer Bob Arum revealed the Filipino was willing to meet Mayweather's demand for random drug-testing up until fight night, prompting speculation the bout could go ahead next year.

But Roach thinks that another of his pupils, WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan, has more of a chance of facing off against Mayweather.

"I don't think Mayweather will ever fight Manny Pacquiao," said Roach to mlive.com. "They have a better chance of getting Mayweather into the ring than Manny. If the fight was going to happen, it would've happened already."

The situation is complicated by the ongoing legal proceedings between Mayweather and Pacquiao, who has launched a defamation lawsuit against his American rival.

Source: espn.co.uk

Nacho Beristain: Manny will beat Floyd

MANILA, Philippines – Mexican trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain is confident that should a Pacquiao vs Mayweather superfight ever happen, Pacquiao will "definitely" come out as the victor.

Beristain, who trains Pacquiao's next opponent Juan Manuel Marquez, told BoxingInsider.com that, "It won't be an easy fight but Pacquiao will win."

Beristain said the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout is very important for boxing, but it should not happen.

"It's a very good, important fight but that fight should not happen, because I believe that Pacquiao will beat Mayweather. You're gonna take away the glory that has made Mayweather these past years," Beristain said.

Beristain is very familiar with Pacquiao, having trained Marquez for both his fights against the Filipino ring icon.

"Everybody picks Mayweather to win the fight because he wins so much against easy fighters, but Pacquiao is just too tough, too strong," Beristain said.

Beristain said that the key to Pacquiao's success was his hard work.

"He just works too hard. His training is too hard," said the Mexican.

Marquez is set to meet Pacquiao for the 3rd time in November.

"Juan Manuel has beaten him twice," Beristain said, referring to the controversy surrounding the first two Pacquiao-Marquez battles.

Their first bout in 2004 ended in a controversial draw and the rematch in 2008 ended in a close split decision for Pacquiao.

"If Juan Manuel does his work very good, he can win the fight," Beristain said.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Arum: Pacquiao camp OKs random testing

MANILA, Philippines – Boxing promoter Bob Arum said the camp of Manny Pacquiao has agreed to random drug testing for the superfight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. to push through.

Arum said in an ESPN report that the Filipino boxing superstar agreed to random testing as long as it will be done by a neutral organization.

"We have agreed in the Pacquiao camp to unlimited random testing done by a responsible, neutral organization," Arum said. "We don't believe USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) is a neutral organization.”

Arum said they can arrange for an Olympic organization to handle the random drug testing.

He added that the drug tests will be supervised by an athletic commission respective of the state where the fight will take place.

"I don't think anybody's test is as vigorous as the test administered by the Olympic Organization,” said Arum.

Mayweather earlier said that he will only agree to a superfight against Pacquiao if the latter undergoes USADA random drug testing.

“If Mayweather says he's agreeable to us, then we can have the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight next year," said Arum.

Pacquiao is already scheduled for a third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12.

Mayweather, on the other hand, will clash against Victor Ortiz on September 17.

Boxing observers believe Mayweather chose to fight the lefthanded Ortiz to prepare himself against Pacquiao, who is also a southpaw.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

New deflection in Mayweather-Pacquiao testing controversy: Fan’s take

Garnering headlines and stoking the fading fire of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-fight, Top Rank promoter, Bob Arum, just came out with a statement that can only be considered a Grade-A deflection and yet another hurdle that seems more focused on avoidance than compromise.

"We have agreed in the Pacquiao camp to unlimited random testing done by a responsible, neutral organization." Arum told AC/Yahoo. "We don't believe USADA is a neutral organization…When you have a Philippine fighter and an American fighter? Wouldn't it be better if it would be done by the Olympic drug-testing organization?"

The USADA that Arum is referring to is the United States Anti-Doping Agency, "the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic sport in the United States."

The non-profit organization, almost completely funded through US government grant, works in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the organization that handles all Olympic testing protocol for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The USADA not only uses the exact same procedures and methodology, but they also report directly to WADA, as well as the International Olympic Committee.

In short, the USADA is the only approved organization to administer Olympic-style random testing within the boundaries of the United States. When WADA wants to conduct testing within the US, they turn to the USADA.

"I don't think anybody's test is as vigorous as the test administered by the Olympic Organization," Arum said in the same interview.

But, the USADA does adhere to the same testing protocol. As a matter of fact, they are the ones who actually do the testing.

Arum's apparent new-found love of random testing can be seen as downright insulting to the intelligence of the fans. He supports Olympic-style testing, except not by the agency that actually does it.

The 79-year-old promoter also stated his mistrust of any blood testing not "done under the auspices of a boxing commission."

"We can arrange for the Olympic Organization to handle the test under the supervision of the Athletic commission respective of the state where the fight is going to be held," Arum declared. "USADA tests these two fighters and the Nevada State Athletic Commission is responsible for the fight. So, if one of the fighters is tested dirty, what can happen? I mean, nobody can sort this thing out. This is absolutely absurd!"

So, in essence, Arum is willing to compromise on Olympic-style testing for the fight, except not by the agency that would actually be able to handle it and only under the supervision of a boxing commission not really familiar with testing protocol and not even in favor of utilizing it within their own jurisdiction.

More and more, it looks as though the mega-fight between boxing's two biggest draws will forever be held up by rhetoric, half-truths, and empty words. And Bob Arum, one of the key figures in this mess, just seems content on adding more twists and turns to the already jumbled maze.

Paul Magno was a licensed official in the state of Michoacan, Mexico and a close follower of the sport for more than thirty years. His work can also be found on Fox Sports and The Boxing Tribune. In the past, Paul has done work for Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules and Eastside Boxing.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com

Anti-doping agency says no bias against Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has no bias or prejudice against Manny Pacquiao or any other athlete.

This is what the agency told Examiner.com after Top Rank boss Bob Arum said that USADA was not a “neutral organization.”

Arum earlier announced that the Pacquiao camp had agreed to random drug testing for a superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., provided that the testing will be done by a neutral organization.

The boxing promoter said that USADA was not a neutral organization and that they can arrange for an Olympic organization to handle the random drug testing.

But USADA’s media relations manager, Annie Skinner, said there is no bias against Pacquiao.

“We certainly do not have a bias against any athlete,” Skinner said. “We do not have a bias (favoring) one athlete over another. All athletes are presumed to be clean until such time as they are proven otherwise.”

Arum had alleged that the head of USADA, lawyer Travis Tygart, favors Mayweather. Tygart had previously referred to Mayweather in public as “the clean athlete.”

Skinner asserted that the USADA is the gold standard for drug testing in the United States.

“We completely adhere to all the international standards as promulgated by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency),” Skinner said. “No other organization in the US does the type of gold standard testing that we do."

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Pacquiao vs Mayweather won't happen! - Schaefer

Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer, doesn't expect a mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao to take place in 2012. Both of the boxers have fights scheduled for the fall. Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight crown against Juan Manuel Marquez in a trilogy bout on November 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, while Mayweather will challenge WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on September 18, which also takes place at the MGM Grand.

Despite both fighters having commitments for the fall, the boxing public continues to chant for a mega-fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. But Schaefer is confident the fight won't happen, and it doesn't have anything to do with money or random Olympic style drug testing. Schaefer has no doubt that Ortiz will defeat Mayweather in September.

"Victor is in an amazing position. He is able to face the best fighter in the world. A fighter who hasn't fought in 16 months [by the time of the fight] and has had a lot of distractions outside of the ring that he's had to deal with. Let's face it, he can't hurt Victor Ortiz, but Victor can hurt him," Schaefer told BoxingScene.com's Luis Sandoval.

"I don't think the [Pacquiao vs Mayweather] fight is going to happen. And I don't think that it's not going to happen because Mayweather doesn't want to do it or Pacquiao doesn't want to do it....or the split or the drug testing. I'll tell you what's going to be the reason on why the fight is not going to happen. The reason is - Victor Ortiz is going to beat Floyd Mayweather."

Source: boxingscene.com

Judge denies Mayweather appeal on Pacquiao case

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Undefeated prizefighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. may have to give testimony to lawyers for rival Manny Pacquiao sooner than he wants after a federal judge in Las Vegas denied his request to push back a deposition in a defamation case.

In a lawsuit first filed in 2009, Pacquiao claims Mayweather and his camp defamed him by saying he used performance-enhancing drugs.

U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks this week denied Mayweather a protective order excusing him from a deposition that was scheduled June 17. Mayweather missed the deposition, and Pacquiao's lawyers said at the time that they planned to seek a default judgment as a result.

Mayweather gave no legal basis for asking to overturn a lower judge's order to hold the deposition, Hicks said in his ruling.

"Mayweather Jr. does not provide any points and authorities in support of his motion other than to state that this court should reverse the magistrate's order," Hicks said.
Hicks did not award Pacquiao a default judgment.

Mayweather's lawyer didn't return messages seeking comment from The Associated Press. In the appeal, he asked to hold a hearing to talk about the boxer's training regimen as he prepares for a Sept. 17 fight against welterweight champion Victor Ortiz.

Pacquiao's lawyers countered that the appeal was irrelevant, in part because they tried several times to set a date that would have worked for Mayweather before his training camp and promotional tour started. Ten previous dates were rejected, Pacquiao's attorneys said.

The suit was originally filed as both sides were negotiating terms on what many believe would be the richest fight in history. The talks fell apart over demands from Mayweather that the fight use more stringent drug testing than what is required under Nevada regulations. Mayweather wanted blood tests up to 14 days before the fight, while Pacquiao claimed he feels weak after drawing blood and would not agree to testing within 24 days.

In New York this week, Mayweather said he has talked about athletes overall using drugs, not specifically Pacquiao.

"I've never said that Manny Pacquiao was taking steroids, I never said he was taking enhancement drugs," Mayweather said.

"It's not just Pacquiao, it's sports, period," Mayweather said. "If you look at sports in the Olympics, they're cheating. Everyone is cheating. And I never once said Manny Pacquiao was cheating, only thing I said was this: Me and any other opponent I face must take the test."

Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Floyd: Mosley told me to demand drug test

MANILA, Philippines – Controversial boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has claimed that a former opponent of Manny Pacquiao advised him to insist his drug test demand against Filipino superstar.

Mayweather said in a video posted on Fighthype.com that he was able to get in touch with "Sugar" Shane Mosley following the latter's defeat to Pacquiao last May.

"Me and Shane talked and he told me the truth. These words that Shane told me: 'Floyd, if I was you, I'll make Pacquiao take the test,'" said the outspoken American boxer.

Mayweather had repeatedly insinuated that the Filipino champion was into performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

This forced Pacquiao to pursue a defamation suit against Mayweather.

The American boxer, however, snubbed a court-ordered deposition in relation to Pacquiao's defamation case.

Who called who?
Mayweather made the claim during the press tour for his upcoming fight against Victor Ortiz.

"Once you guys meet up with Shane Mosley, ask him what he told me…I talked to Shane Mosley on the phone. I didn't call nobody, I don't have Shane's number, but I was able to get in touch with Shane," said Mayweather.

Mosley suffered a lopsided decision to the power-punching Pacquiao last May. The Filipino scored a 3rd-round knockdown en route to the unanimous decision win.

Mayweather also boasted that he is a better fighter than Pacquiao, citing that he can adapt to any kind of opponent.

He claimed that he quickly rose to stardom compared to Pacquiao.

"He was pro before me but he was a preliminary fighter. And I moved quickly," said Mayweather.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com