By Steve Kim, SecondsOut.com
Quite the uproar was caused when Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions put out a press release on Tuesday afternoon which basically stated this since Manny Pacquiao did not want to adhere to Olympic-style drug testing, that the March 13Th fight against Floyd Mayweather was in jeopardy. A link to the press release is down below:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/promo-lead/mayweather-vs-pacquiao-in-jeopardy
What had started out as a surprisingly easy and amicable negotiation, has now turned a bit ugly and vitriolic (which isn’t a surprise).
"We’re willing to do all kinds of urine analysis. We’re willing to do blood testing before the last press conference and after the fight," Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, told Maxboxing on early Tuesday evening."We’re not willing to do blood testing while he’s in training because he claims it weakens him. And one major doctor we talked to says that blood testing is absolutely, totally irrelevant. Totally irrelevant. We’re willing to do random urinalysis at any time."
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach says,"The thing is, I talked to the drug testing people today and I said,’Can you guarantee me that Manny wont have to give blood the day before the fight?’ They said no. I said,’Then we can’t do the test.’" He added later,"We go by the commission rules, the sanctioning body rules. Mayweather doesn’t make the rules, we don’t work for Mayweather. He needs us, we don’t need him."
When Arum was asked if he felt that Mayweather was playing mind games, Arum, blurted out:" OF COURSE THEY ARE!!! OF COURSE THEY ARE!!! And they can go screw themselves! I don’t care if this fight doesn’t happen."
A short time ago, Arum had displaced himself from the negotiations and put his step-son, Todd duBoef, in charge of negotiating this fight."Look, Todd started appeasing them by agreeing to do this, to do that, and I would’ve said,’Screw it,’ I wouldn’t have agreed to anything."
So in his opinion, will Pacquiao-Mayweather take place on March 13th?
"No," was Arum’s answer."Because Manny is not going to be subjected to blood-testing while he’s in training and they’re going to insist on it because they never really wanted to do the fight." Arum admitted that he had already begun the process of finding Pacquiao’s next fight."Absolutely, but I don’t want to discuss it till I talk to Manny."
But Roach has a different take.
"Where else is he( Mayweather) going to go get the kind of money that he wants?. I think it’ll happen."
Then again, the same question could be posed to ’the Pac Man’.
But the question has to be asked, are they balking at this stipulation because they have something to hide?
"Well, we’ve passed every drug test that we’ve ever had for every fight. We tested every time. So there’s no history in that. Manny Pacquiao, I mean, I have trouble giving him protein shakes and and vitamins," stated Roach."HGH, he doesn’t even know what that means. But that’s peoples opinion. I don’t care what people think, I know I have a clean fighter."
JUST FIGHT ALREADY- OR DON’T
The way things are going, both Pacquiao and Mayweather will be demanding possession of each others first-born child in negotiating this fight.( If you think about it, it’s only a bit crazier than Team Pacquiao’s insistence that Mayweather be docked $10- yes, 10- million for every pound over the welterweight limit. Maybe it’s just me, but anyone else getting a bit sick and tired of this constant back-and-forthing? What had the potential to be a spectacular event for the sport of boxing, instead, could now turn into another example of what is wrong with this business.
Listen, it’s already bad enough that they decided to make the short-sighted decision to place this event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas( where even if you could afford the exorbitant ticket prices, unless you’re a high-roller or celeb, you couldn’t purchase them anyway) and then to hear those involved state so proudly just what financial records they will break, all the while lining their pockets as they charge you suckers $100 for closed-circuit tickets, it’s all a bit disconcerting if you ask me.
I guess some things are recession-proof, like the hubris of those running this sport and the loyalty of those who follow it.
This isn’t so much a prizefight now, but a group of millionaires getting together and divvying up their intricate and highly profitable Ponzi scheme as they laugh all the way to the bank. Bernie Madoff never had it so easy. By the time- if and when- they touch’em up on March 13th, will anyone involved in this promotion really be a loser?
But just hurry and sign the damn contract. Or don’t. Because at this point I’m not so sure I really care that much if these two guys are facing Matthew Hatton and Yuri Foreman in their next outings.
This past week’s edition of “The Main Event” featured Calvin Watkins and Tom Hauser...Questions or comments can be directed to me at k9kim@yahoo.com... Twitter.com/stevemaxboxing…
Source: secondsout.com
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