By GEORGE WILLIS, New York Post
Bob Arum told The Post yesterday that, as far as he's concerned, the proposed megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao "is not going to happen" because of an impasse over drug-testing procedures.
And, the Top Rank promoter is moving forward to find another opponent for Pacquiao.
Arum said he has extended an offer to Lou DiBella, the promoter for Paulie Malignaggi, to have the junior welterweight from Brooklyn replace Mayweather as Pacquiao's opponent on March 13 in Las Vegas.
"We've made an offer to Lou and we'll keep that March 13 date," Arum said.
Malignaggi, a former IBF junior welterweight champ who is coming off an impressive victory over Juan Diaz, said he is happy to be mentioned as a possible opponent, but the boxing fan in him hopes Mayweather and Pacquiao can work things out.
"At the end of the day, these guys have to come up with an agreement," Malignaggi said. "It's cool to have my name in the mix, but to leave that much money on the table doesn't make sense."
The Mayweather-Pacquiao bout could be the richest in boxing history, with each fighter earning $30 million to $40 million. But the bout is in jeopardy.
Mayweather has insisted Pacquiao agree to drug testing administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which administers random blood and urine tests for Olympic sports. Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, has offered an alternative plan under which the drug tests would be administered by an agency that works with the NFL, NBA and MLB.
Pacquiao would give as many urine samples as requested, and undergo three blood tests, one in January when the fight is announced, another no less than 30 days before the bout and one immediately following the bout. The Mayweather camp has rejected Arum's plan.
Arum said his problem with the USADA overseeing the drug testing is that it's too intrusive.
"Their idea of random testing is if Manny is in his apartment in Los Angeles with 20 Filipinos sleeping at midnight, they can knock on the door and take a blood test or a urine sample," Arum said. "That's crazy. It's harassment."
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, was told the USADA could administer as many as 14 urine tests and seven blood tests in an eight-week period leading up the bout.
Arum came up with his alternate plan after speaking with representatives of the New York Giants, who raved about the agencies that administer drug testing in the NFL.
"We have nothing to hide," Arum said. "If you want to add some blood testing that's absolutely useless, we'll do a little blood testing. We can do urine tests and saliva tests. But let's do it with an agency that is used to handling professional athletes."
The Mayweather camp doesn't like the idea of scheduled testing.
"How are you going to dictate timing-wise when the tests are being done?" said Leonard Ellerbe, a Mayweather adviser. "That's the whole idea behind random testing. If somebody is doing something they shouldn't be doing, if they know when the test is coming, they could study and pass the test."
Pacquiao, a champion in seven weight classes, has passed all the urine drug tests for his championship bouts in Las Vegas. Yet the Mayweather camp requested blood tests after Floyd Mayweather Sr. charged that Pacquiao, who climbed four weight classes over the last two years, was on performance-enhancing drugs.
Malignaggi said he is among those "suspicious" of Pacquiao, but he would not demand any drug testing procedures other than those already in place by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
"At the end of the day, we're here to make money," Malignaggi said. "I'd like to believe he's not on something, so I'd be OK to do the regular testing the commission does. But if I was going to make $40 million, you could test me 15 times a day."
george.willis@nypost.com
Source: nypost.com
No comments:
Post a Comment