By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com
The representatives for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. continue to try to hash out the protocol for the drug testing for their tentative March 13 super fight.
The showdown the world wants to see is hanging by a thread as the camps childishly squabble over that one. The rest of the deal is done, soup to nuts.
Top Rank president Todd duBoef, representing Pacquiao, is supposed to talk with Golden Boy executive Bruce Binkow on Sunday to see if they can save the fight and reach common ground on the testing regimen.
Mayweather made a big move on Saturday by backing off his insistence that the inflexible United States Anti-Doping Agency handle the blood testing aspect. Both camps have agreed to unlimited random urine testing.
But Top Rank boss Bob Arum, who has been an emotional wreck throughout the negotiations, took a backward step on Sunday when he told me from his Mexican vacation that Pacquiao would now only do whatever the Nevada State Athletic Commission asked him to do with regard to blood testing. The Nevada commission, of course, does not require blood testing, although Golden Boy could petition it to conduct it for the fight, with no guarantee it would take that on.
No longer would Pacquiao even submit to the three blood tests he had previously agreed to, one during the week of the kickoff news conference in January, another one no later than 30 days before the fight and a third one in the dressing room after the fight.
While Mayweather has come off his demand for USADA to handle the drug testing, he still wants random blood testing with a cut-off time before the fight to be agreed upon.
If Pacquiao won't agree to that, it's a non-starter, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who is also starting to uncharacteristically lose his cool during this high-stakes negotiation.
However, it's another day, and on Sunday, Pacquiao himself had his say, releasing a statement from the Philippines to clarify his take on the blood testing situation. Now, he's again willing to submit to at least the three blood tests.
Here is Pacquiao's statement:
"I am still willing to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. I never said the fight was off or I do not want to fight him. I will fight anyone at anytime and my record and past fights prove that. I have never and will never dodge anyone. These are my specifications for this fight regarding blood testing. I have offered to give a blood sample the day of the announcement of the fight at the (press conference). I have offered to give a blood sample 30 days before the fight. I am willing to give blood immediately after the fight is over inside my dressing room . I am also willing to give urine tests at anytime, anywhere, every day leading up to the fight.
"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. These accusations of me using any performance enhancing supplements are totally unwarranted and unjustified.
"To all of my fans I want to say thank you very much for all your support and understanding. I always give honor to God first and I would never cheat. I would never cheat God, I would never cheat myself, and I would never cheat my country and my fans.
"If Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not accept these terms [then] my promoter will find me another fight for March the 13. Again, I will fight anyone at any time. I would always like to be known for my honor and my integrity. I will always be known for my courage and my willingness to face any man at anytime in my career. If Floyd Mayweather Jr. 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 commission demands.
"I should not have to prove myself as I have always done what the commission has asked me to do, and I have never, ever swayed from that. Never has there been a time where anything I have ever done has been in question. I stand behind my honor and my integrity. I stand below God and my country. I stand with my fans and 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."
I certainly doubt that Pacquiao is afraid to fight Mayweather, nor do I believe Mayweather is afraid to fight Pacquiao. What I am afraid of is that they may find a way to screw up the biggest fight the sport has to offer.
I do think, however, that eventually sanity will prevail, both sides will look at all those zeroes on the bottom line and get the deal done, as painful as it might be.
And when it's all set, there's only one thing the promoters can name this fight.
Blood Feud.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
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