Manny Pacquiao says Floyd Mayweather Jr. wasn't ready to face him this spring, and their disagreement over blood-testing procedures was just a smokescreen to get out of the proposed welterweight championship mega bout.
"What I believe is Floyd Mayweather is not ready for this time to fight with me," Pacquiao said during a conference call yesterday. "That's why he made some reason to cancel the fight. I feel bad, I feel disappointment because he's accusing me of [using] drugs or whatever and trying to ruin my name in boxing. People know that I always pray to God and [believe in] hard work."
Pacquiao and Mayweather, the top pound-for-pound fighters in boxing, had been negotiating on a March 13 bout in Las Vegas. It might have been the richest in boxing history, but they reached an impasse over blood-testing procedures with Mayweather wanting random Olympic-style testing by an independent agency. Pacquiao agreed to undergo three tests, including 21 days before the bout and the night of the bout or have the Nevada Athletic Commission decide on a procedure. When a compromise couldn't be reached, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, matched Pacquiao against former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium.
"I didn't want to take a blood test right before the fight," Pacquiao said. "I want to have proper focus. It's a big disadvantage for me to take a blood test just before the fight."
Mayweather's demand for Olympic-style blood testing came after Floyd Mayweather Sr. accused Pacquiao of using performance enhancing drugs. Pacquiao has won either world titles or linear championships in seven different weight classes and enjoyed recent dominant wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. He has never failed a drug pre- or post-fight drug test.
Pacquiao has filed a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather, and Golden Boy Promotions executives Richard Schaefer and De La Hoya, who were critical of Pacquiao for not agreeing to the testing.
"The lawsuit will establish beyond any doubt that these innuendos, assertions and statements made by that whole group of defendants have absolutely no basis of fact; are pulled out of thin air; and are fueled only by jealousy of [Pacquiao's] accomplishments," Arum said. "It is absolutely to me outrageous what was said by these people, and that will be affirmed in a court of law."
Arum said the defendants must answer the complaint "sometime by the end of March." For now, Pacquiao is focusing on his fight next Saturday against Clottey.
"Joshua Clottey is taller and bigger than me," Pacquiao said. "I cannot underestimate him because he's a former world champion."
george.will@nypost.com
Source: nypost.com
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