MANNY PACQUIAO: ON STEROIDS?
TEAM MAYWEATHER: ON DRUGS?
The Mayweather camp is saying Manny Pacquiao is on steroids.
The Pacquiao camp is saying Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a coward.
Who knows? They may both be right. What IS known is that the proposed March Pacquiao/Mayweather megafight is in jeopardy. Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports broke the story that Mayweather’s management team made a last minute demand for drug testing Pacquiao. They want Pacquiao to submit to Olympic style drug testing which would includes blood drawing.
As Iole points out, there have never been any questions or suspicion of Manny Pacquiao using performance enhancing drugs during his career. He has passed every drug test ever administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Then, recently, Mayweather’s father floated the rumor that Pacquiao might be using steroids or other PED’s. Now, based solely on the allegations that they themselves started, the Mayweather camp is demanding the harshest drug testing ever administered to a boxer.
The Filipino boxer’s camp hit the roof. They say that Pacquiao will submit to any type of drug testing Mayweather wants, but only after the fight. Trainer Freddie Roach has said he will refuse to let blood be drawn from Pacquiao within 48 hours before the fight. Promoter Bob Arum is accusing Mayweather of trying to bail out on the fight because he’s afraid of Pacquiao. Arum should know. As Mayweather’s former promoter he spent the better part of a decade ducking top flight competition for his fighter. According to the Iole article, Arum says,
“…the demand is “absolutely crazy,” done simply to harass Pacquiao, who is squeamish about needles, and is proof that Mayweather doesn’t really want the fight.”
In any event, the drug testing issue may be a dealbreaker. Arum told a Grand Rapids newspaper that the fight “is off.” The AP was also reporting that the fight is likely off. That led a sputtering Arum to call the LA Times with a denial saying the fight might still be on.
