By James Slater, Eastside Boxing
Even though all the fighting has been done in the ring in 2009, and even though there is no boxing action scheduled for at least a week or so, this week has been a most newsworthy one for the sport of boxing. Two huge stories broke, both of which are shocking and upsetting in their own way.
First of all, as has been reported all over the place, the mega-match between Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather Junior is on the rocks, due to the refusal on Pac-Man's part to comply with the blood testing demands of his pound-for-pound rival. Fans know all about this; about how the Filipino hero has a serious phobia of needles and of having his blood taken, and about how the southpaw has gone on record as saying he is quite willing to be tested both before and after the fight as is the case usually in the sport.
Yesterday, Manny's trainer, Freddie Roach, and his promoter, Bob Arum, spoke to Sky Sports News and The Grand Rapids Press, respectively - as they gave us an update on the fight that may now never take place..
Roach told Sky how he "refuses to work for Floyd Mayweather," meaning he will not have his fighter dictated to the way "Money" wants him dictated to.
"I'd love to see this fight happen but we're going to go by the Commission rules and not Mayweather's rules," Roach said. "I refuse to work for Mayweather. It's absurd that this is the first time in the history of boxing that he wants to hire his own private company to do drug testing."
Roach went on to say how he feels Mayweather's random blood testing demands (the way they test athletes in the Olympics) are a sign that he doesn't really want the fight.
"He is looking for a back door out," Roach said. "I never thought he wanted to fight Manny in the first place. We have no problem with any drug testing in the world but I'm not going to have my fighter give blood a week out, that's my decision because I know it affects him mentally when he gives blood."
Some fans may raise their eyebrow when they hear how a tough warrior like Pacquiao is afraid of anything. But any phobia can be a most distressing thing, even for a hugely courageous prize fighter. Has Mayweather tried to bring in the blood testing as a way to unsettle his rival's pre-fight preparations? Roach clearly thinks so.
Bob Arum had more to say on the subject, and depressingly he spoke of "going in a different direction."
"What I believe is Floyd never really wanted the fight and this is just harassment of Pacquiao," Arum told The Grand Rapids Press. "So he will go his way, we will go our way and that will be fine. We appeased Mayweather by agreeing to a urine analysis at any time and blood testing before the press conference and after the fight. Mayweather pressed for blood testing even up to the weigh-in. He knows that Manny gets freaked out when he gets his blood taken and feels that it weakens him."
So what do the fans believe? Is Pacquiao being unreasonable by refusing to agree to the testing Mayweather has demanded, or is Floyd making his demands simply because he IS looking for a way out? Either way, if the fight does fail to come off (and Arum seems to be looking that way) it will be boxing itself that loses out.
This week's other big news story actually surfaced a while back, but the story got even bigger yesterday. Fans have read about how Roy Jones Junior complained shortly after his stunning 1st-round stoppage loss by Danny Green, saying his opponent cheated and used an excessive and illegal amount of wrapping tape and bandages on his hands in the fight.
Brushed off as nothing more than sour grapes on the part of the former pound-for-pound king, fans forgot about the issue. But yesterday, as has been reported by The Los Angeles Times, Team-Jones asked an Australian Commission to DQ Green and overturn his win.
John Wirt, the chief exec of Jones' Square Ring outfit, wrote a letter to Australian officials, saying how Green's hand wrapping "was clearly in violation of the New South Wales boxing regulations on numerous counts," and that "the combination of these violations resulted in a very dangerous weapon."
Wirt also said of how objections to Green's wraps were "denied" on fight night, and that Jones was told to "fight or be disqualified."
So far Green has not responded to the complaints.
So, could there be a chance that Green's spectacular win, the biggest of his career, gets taken away from him? This one looks destined to be fought in court for a substantial amount of time.
It's been quite a bad end to the year for boxing, what with the Jones-Green situation and the possibility that the biggest fight for many a year may not take place. Otherwise, 2009 was a pretty good year for our beloved sport.
Source: eastsideboxing.com
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