During the failed negotiations for a potential March 13 bout against unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao claimed that he did not want to have blood randomly drawn for drug testing within 14 days of a fight.
During Thursday's Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing and teleconference that dealt with steroids
and drug testing for illegal substances, the Filipino super star's assertion received some support.Former chief ringside physician, Dr. David Watson, argued that a hematomas, infections or other injuries could develop in the arm as a result of the skin being punctured "within three weeks of a fight."
"Dr. Watson has done thousands of weigh-in physicals and done thousands of fights. He's viewed tons of medical records. What Dr. Watson was kind of saying was that on some occasions with fighters, he would notice hematomas on the inside of the elbow where they gave blood," said Keith Kizer, executive director of the NSAC.
"So Dr. Watson was concerned that you could have fighters who -- if you take blood too close to the fight -- you could run the risk of something like that developing in a fighter," said Kizer. "That could cause an effect on their performance, especially when they've had to do fights on late notice, for the infections diseases -- Hepetitus A, Hepititis B, and HIV -- and they had to give blood for that."
Kizer said that another doctor, Robert Voy, formerly of United States Olympic Committee drug testing, "brought up the fact that you can have infections."
"There was a center in Las Vegas that re-used needles for some sort of tests, and people got Hepatitis C from that situation," said Kizer. "So there's a concern that you can infect somebody and that you can infect the arm nick the vein, or jab it in the wrong place. [Dr. Watson] noticed some bruising on the arms within three weeks of the fight. The question is, can you minimize that?"
According to Travis Tygart, the answer is a resounding, "Yes."
The executive chairman of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Tygart was also a part of the conference call.
Tygart's USADA achieved a boxing first by implementing and overseeing the random testing of blood and urine on both Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley during the lead up to their May 1 clash won by Mayweather.
"Maybe he [Watson] was getting at the blackout period. Maybe he was saying that it's too big of a risk from a health and safety standpoint, and that given the need, that the risk is too big. But the risk is small and almost non-existent. The risk is minimal if you have a good policy and practice and experienced blood collectors in place," said Tygart.
"It's less of a risk than walking across the street," said Tygart. "Again, if you have in place well-defined protocols and trained professionals with experience, then it's basically about the same risk as it is getting hit by a car walking across the street when the light says to 'Walk.'"
Mayweather had both blood and urine taken on March 22, April 1, April 13 and then on the night directly after the fight. Mayweather provided urine only on April 3, April 6, April 21 and April 24.
Mosley provided both blood and urine on March 23, March 31, April 12 and directly after the bout on fight night. Mosley provided urine on April 3, April 6, April 21 and April 24.
Recent reports in support of Pacquiao's proposed 14-day window have focused on the fact that USADA's last date for blood drawn was April 13 for Mayweather, and, April 12 for Mosley.
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions, for example, believes that he knows why USADA ended its random blood testing so far out from the May 1 fight date.
"You notice that they stopped blood testing in the Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight about 18 days before. Well, I'm not a doctor, but you have to realize that a fighter uses his arms a lot like a runner uses his legs. You can't take blood too close to the fight. Two or three weeks before the fight he can get a hematoma which can prevent him from either training or fighting," said Arum.
"If it's done further out before the fight, then there's no real problem. But closer to the fight, there's a real problem. For a fighter to lose the last week in training or the week before the fight is a disaster for a fighter," said Arum. "That could happen if he gets a hematoma in the arm that's used for the blood test. USADA, whatever, they might say, must have recognized this, and I believe that that's why they didn't test for blood before 18 days."
But the assertion of Tygart disputes Arum's claim.
"We chose not to test for blood closer to the fight than we did because there was no need to do so. But, of course, if we had some sort of cause or suspicion that meant that we needed to do more blood tests, let's say, five days, or, four days before a fight, then we certainly would have done it," said Tygart.
"And that's why the right to have that option is such an important aspect to having a good program. It's a deterrent for the fighters," said Tygart. "[We were] totally comfortable only having that blood test 18 days before the fight and not needing one more testing day in between."
Tygart believes that the focus on the 18 days is simply a fault-finding mission for the progam's detractors.
"Importantly, the reality is, the people who want to criticize, they were hoping that we were going to blood test the day of the fight or the day before the fight, or two days or four days before the fight," said Tygart.
"And then, they were going to hope and pray that whatever fighter lost, that fighter was going to blame the blood test," said Tygart. "So since that didn't happen -- and that testing didn't need to happen to have an effective program -- they now have to try to complain that the window was too big."
Citing his last defeat, a unanimous decision loss to Erik Morales in March of 2005, the 31-year-old, Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) -- a newly-elected, Philippines congressman -- contends that drawing blood within days of the bout weakens him.
In the fight with Morales, Pacquiao bled profusely from a deep cut above his right eye. Since that loss, however, Pacquiao is 12-0, with eight knockouts -- including stoppages in the 10th, and, third round, respectively, against Morales.
"Look, man that's [not testing for a blackout period] like putting these athletes in a bubble and not letting them leave the house for three weeks. It's like, 'You can't train or you might twist your ankle,'" said Tygart, referring to the periods sanctioned by Watson and requested by Pacquiao. "But there's risks of leaving your house to walk on the sidewalk, and there's risks leaving your house in the morning to go jogging. Getting blood drawn? The risks aren't as bad as anything like that."
Tygart also railed against the NSAC's argument that random drug testing is too costly, saying "You can craft an effective program based on how much money you have," and, "Look for new revenues."
"My simple analysis and real question is, 'How much money do you have?' You have your current money that you're spending on it, you have your current budget -- so that maybe you can move money from other areas -- or, third, you can look for new revenues sources," said Tygart.
"It's obviously very important, and the athletes deserve it," said Tygart. "When you have athletes like Floyd Mayweather coming to us and asking us to provide for a better system, then you're obviously not doing enough."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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