By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports
The white-knight crusaders at the World Anti-Doping Association set about on their high horse Thursday with another message for Major League Baseball. They do this once or twice a year, cobbling together a few paragraphs worth of phony moralistic preening with the intention of embarrassing their favorite whipping boy, then fading back to the land of obscurity where they belong.
In a press release disguised as a concerned letter, WADA president John Fahey chastised MLB and the players’ association for not using blood testing to detect human growth hormone. Nowhere did Fahey mention that the reliability of these tests remains in question six years after WADA first suggested their use. Nor did Fahey admit the organization’s real motivation: to leverage MLB into fattening WADA’s coffers with its multimillion-dollar-a-year testing program.
No, just more of the same scripted canards WADA employs to cling to whatever shred of relevance it has.
“We continue to read statements from the MLB Commissioner and MLBPA representatives questioning the appropriateness of implementing blood testing in their league,” Fahey wrote. “This is nonsense.”
Actually, it’s far from nonsense. Fahey lives in a fiefdom where an employer’s right to stick needles in its employees is a fait accompli. Such decisions take nuance and discussion, and they certainly shouldn’t be the domain of dogmatists who profit from the testing.
Proper drug detection in professional American sports is not done in a vacuum. Whereas most Olympic athletes lack unions and find themselves easy prey for WADA and its compadres-in-corruption at the IOC, American athletes are shielded from unilateral enforcement. It’s not all about snuffing out the cheaters, nor is it about protecting civil rights at all costs. There is a place in between, one that values a sport’s integrity as well as its athletes’.
WADA preys on the public’s ignorance. Last month, UK Anti-Doping announced that a test detected HGH in the blood of an English rugby player named Terry Newton. It was a targeted test, given in the offseason to Newton based on a tip to UKAD. He later admitted taking the drug.
Emboldened, WADA went on a self-congratulatory campaign about a new era in drug testing based on one positive. One. For years, WADA has gone public with pronouncement after pronouncement about how close it is to a reliable HGH test, only for it to bust deadline after deadline. It never caught anyone at the Olympics, nor in other competitions around the world where athletes use HGH, and yet this single positive gave it a new launching pad.
WADA blitzed the public with half-truths, knowing full well that if any sport dare argue, it would look like it was trying to hide something. An organization full of blowhards and self-important ninnies became the standard bearer in drug testing by using that scare tactic, and now, sadly, its hollow principles exist not for the good of sport but itself. No wonder WADA is so tight with the Olympic movement. They get off on the same self-serving values.
It’s no surprise WADA keeps attacking MLB while letting other professional leagues skate. The NBA and NHL pour tens of millions of dollars into the Olympics by allowing their athletes to participate, and the NFL plays enough pattycake with WADA to stave off public interference.
Now, this does not minimize the performance-enhancing drug problem baseball once had and still, to a lesser degree, probably has. Players use steroids, as is obvious from the number suspended in the minor leagues every year, and they use human growth hormone, too. Individual sports can only do so much to rid cheaters, something WADA will never admit, lest it impale its own existence.
MLB is considering implementing blood tests on minor league players this season, though it does so with reticence. Already baseball’s testing programs in the major and minor leagues include non-analytical positives. Atlanta prospect Jordan Schafer(notes) was suspended for 50 games despite never taking a test for HGH. The Newton positive seemed as tied to the intelligence about him as it was the blood test itself.
WADA hasn’t made public how its current test is any different than the one that drew blanks for six years, and questions sent to Fahey through a WADA spokesman went unanswered. The likely answer: it isn’t. Which means WADA wants baseball to overhaul its program for a test that seemingly necessitates an informational complement.
By using ambush techniques to grab headlines, WADA proves itself increasingly desperate. Baseball’s testing program is the strictest in American professional sports, and though flaws remain, they don’t merit such bullying. Until baseball kowtows to WADA’s desires, the letters, the didactic tone – the real nonsense – won’t stop.
Baseball knows better than to cave, of course, to give in to these performance-enhancing drug charlatans. It is up to owners and players and fans and media to keep the sport honest, to prevent it from slipping into the juiced-up freak show that unfolded over two decades.
Better them than the white knights with dark intentions.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
Friday 19 March 2010
Pacquiao Won, But....... -- 8CountNews
By Lorne Scoggins, 8CountNews.com
Let the excuses begin. Manny Pacquiao's talents and accomplishments in the sport of boxing are generally recognized and appreciated by casual boxing fans and hardcore enthusiasts alike. However, there remains a very loud minority of people who continually seek to discredit everything Pacquiao has achieved. His total domination over Joshua Clottey was...well...totally dominating. What else can be said? Amazingly, it seems that there is nothing that Pacquiao can possibly do to silence his critics.
Here are some excuses that have been circulating:
“Clottey could have beaten Pacquiao if he'd actually fought.”
This is no different than saying that Clottey could have won if Pacquiao HADN'T fought. How can anyone discredit Pacquiao's performance based on the fact that his opponent refused to come out of his defensive shell? Clottey has always been a defensively-minded fighter. When a defensive fighter gets 1,231 punches shot at him, he's going to cover up. Pacquiao was so busy that Clottey's instincts kicked in and he spent the entire night protecting himself. To paraphrase 8CN executive, Brad Cooney, both men stepped into the ring with 12 rounds to do their thing. While it's obvious to everyone that Clottey should have taken chances and attempted a KO in the latter rounds, that's easier said than done. Simply stated, Clottey couldn't find time to do his thing because Pacquiao was so busy doing his.
“Clottey must have been bought off to throw the fight.”
I've heard this from a few different people. Would a pay-off have been worth it? If he had beaten Manny Pacquiao, he would have pulled off a very significant upset. This would have placed him at the top of the division and he would have been the new, WBO welterweight champion of the world. He would have uncrowned the pound for pound king, and everybody in the division would have been scrambling to fight him. This would have opened the door to some tremendous paydays for the “Grand Master”. He stood so much more to gain from winning than from losing. This is a ridiculous thought.
“Clottey lost because his trainer couldn't get a visa.”
Admittedly, this fact can't be totally ignored. However, Clottey's trainer couldn't have prepared him for Pacquiao's relentless attacks. His trainer couldn't possibly have transformed him into the fighter he needed to be to defeat Pacquiao.
“Clottey lost because he's a Pacquiao fan.”
Clottey did say that Manny Pacquiao is his favorite fighter. It's obvious that Pacquiao and Clottey struck up a friendship and that they genuinely like and respect each other, but that fact didn't prevent Clottey from landing some tremendous punches that snapped Pacquiao's head back and did some damage. Boxers are accustomed to getting into the ring and doing what they have to do regardless of whether they personally like their opponent or not. Like Pacquiao always says, “It's nothing personal. Just doing my job”. Clottey failed to do his job that night, not because he felt sympathy toward poor Manny, but because he was overwhelmed.
“Team Pacquiao cherry-picked another opponent who is easy to hit."
I'm not kidding. I actually heard this. Ridiculous, no? This one actually made me laugh. Let me be Captain Obvious here: Joshua Clottey is not easy to hit. Give me a break.
“He should have chosen a more worthy opponent.”
Like who? Let me reiterate my points from a previous article. The negotiations with Mayweather fell through. The No. 2 ranked welterweight, Shane Mosley and No. 3, Floyd Mayweather Jr. are fighting each other on May 1st. At the time the fight with Clottey was made, Mosley was expected to face Andre Berto. Miguel Cotto is No. 4 in the welterweight rankings. Pacquiao has been there and done that. Clottey was ranked No. 5.
“What did Pacquiao really prove in this fight?”
He proved that he can handle a fighter with an all but impenetrable defense. He showed that he can outclass a fighter who can avoid or block punches. He showed that a defensive fighter who only lands single punches and two-punch combos can't score enough points to win rounds against him.
Here's are some interesting questions in relation to those facts:
Will Pacquiao's dominance over Clottey add to Floyd Mayweather's apparent fear of Pacquiao? If Mayweather defeats Mosley and actually finds the nerve to step into the ring with Manny Pacquiao, how will he fare? What will he do when Pacquiao throws 1,200 punches at him? How effective would HE be with his single shots and two-punch combinations in that situation?
Pacquiao and Freddie Roach both called Mayweather our after “The Event”. Are you listening Floyd?
Contact Lorne: lscoggins@8countnews.com
Source: 8countnews.com
Let the excuses begin. Manny Pacquiao's talents and accomplishments in the sport of boxing are generally recognized and appreciated by casual boxing fans and hardcore enthusiasts alike. However, there remains a very loud minority of people who continually seek to discredit everything Pacquiao has achieved. His total domination over Joshua Clottey was...well...totally dominating. What else can be said? Amazingly, it seems that there is nothing that Pacquiao can possibly do to silence his critics.
Here are some excuses that have been circulating:
“Clottey could have beaten Pacquiao if he'd actually fought.”
This is no different than saying that Clottey could have won if Pacquiao HADN'T fought. How can anyone discredit Pacquiao's performance based on the fact that his opponent refused to come out of his defensive shell? Clottey has always been a defensively-minded fighter. When a defensive fighter gets 1,231 punches shot at him, he's going to cover up. Pacquiao was so busy that Clottey's instincts kicked in and he spent the entire night protecting himself. To paraphrase 8CN executive, Brad Cooney, both men stepped into the ring with 12 rounds to do their thing. While it's obvious to everyone that Clottey should have taken chances and attempted a KO in the latter rounds, that's easier said than done. Simply stated, Clottey couldn't find time to do his thing because Pacquiao was so busy doing his.
“Clottey must have been bought off to throw the fight.”
I've heard this from a few different people. Would a pay-off have been worth it? If he had beaten Manny Pacquiao, he would have pulled off a very significant upset. This would have placed him at the top of the division and he would have been the new, WBO welterweight champion of the world. He would have uncrowned the pound for pound king, and everybody in the division would have been scrambling to fight him. This would have opened the door to some tremendous paydays for the “Grand Master”. He stood so much more to gain from winning than from losing. This is a ridiculous thought.
“Clottey lost because his trainer couldn't get a visa.”
Admittedly, this fact can't be totally ignored. However, Clottey's trainer couldn't have prepared him for Pacquiao's relentless attacks. His trainer couldn't possibly have transformed him into the fighter he needed to be to defeat Pacquiao.
“Clottey lost because he's a Pacquiao fan.”
Clottey did say that Manny Pacquiao is his favorite fighter. It's obvious that Pacquiao and Clottey struck up a friendship and that they genuinely like and respect each other, but that fact didn't prevent Clottey from landing some tremendous punches that snapped Pacquiao's head back and did some damage. Boxers are accustomed to getting into the ring and doing what they have to do regardless of whether they personally like their opponent or not. Like Pacquiao always says, “It's nothing personal. Just doing my job”. Clottey failed to do his job that night, not because he felt sympathy toward poor Manny, but because he was overwhelmed.
“Team Pacquiao cherry-picked another opponent who is easy to hit."
I'm not kidding. I actually heard this. Ridiculous, no? This one actually made me laugh. Let me be Captain Obvious here: Joshua Clottey is not easy to hit. Give me a break.
“He should have chosen a more worthy opponent.”
Like who? Let me reiterate my points from a previous article. The negotiations with Mayweather fell through. The No. 2 ranked welterweight, Shane Mosley and No. 3, Floyd Mayweather Jr. are fighting each other on May 1st. At the time the fight with Clottey was made, Mosley was expected to face Andre Berto. Miguel Cotto is No. 4 in the welterweight rankings. Pacquiao has been there and done that. Clottey was ranked No. 5.
“What did Pacquiao really prove in this fight?”
He proved that he can handle a fighter with an all but impenetrable defense. He showed that he can outclass a fighter who can avoid or block punches. He showed that a defensive fighter who only lands single punches and two-punch combos can't score enough points to win rounds against him.
Here's are some interesting questions in relation to those facts:
Will Pacquiao's dominance over Clottey add to Floyd Mayweather's apparent fear of Pacquiao? If Mayweather defeats Mosley and actually finds the nerve to step into the ring with Manny Pacquiao, how will he fare? What will he do when Pacquiao throws 1,200 punches at him? How effective would HE be with his single shots and two-punch combinations in that situation?
Pacquiao and Freddie Roach both called Mayweather our after “The Event”. Are you listening Floyd?
Contact Lorne: lscoggins@8countnews.com
Source: 8countnews.com
Sugar Shane Mosley sets sights on defeating Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao -- Liverpool Echo
By Nick Peet, Liverpool Echo
‘SUGAR’ Shane Mosley, never one to be short of a few words, is planning on wrecking fight fans’ best laid plans by defeating both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao this year.
The three-weight world champion insists that he will end ‘Money’ Mayweather’s unbeaten 40-fight run on May 1 before catching up with ‘Pacman’ in the summer.
After Manny’s faultless points victory over brave but totally outgunned Joshua Clottey last weekend, Mosley said: "I would like to congratulate Manny on his victory Saturday night even though I think it put most of the fans watching to sleep.
"Now it’s time for the world to focus on May 1 when I promise you nobody will be sleeping except for Floyd after I knock him out and send him back into retirement.
"Maybe if Floyd comes back a second time, he and Manny will fight one day, but it will only be for the opportunity to fight me again; the man who beat both of them."
Meanwhile, both Mayweather and Mosley will begin the US Anti-Doping Agency gold standard anti-doping program on Monday as they continue to prepare for their clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It is the first time this level of drug testing has been used in the pro ring.
The program involves no-advance-notice sample collection of the athletes’ blood and urine prior to and after the fight so that all banned substances, some of which do not show up in urine alone, are tested for thoroughly, and with both athletes subjected to the testing program leading up to as well as after the fight.
The stringent drug testing programme is thought to have been the reason why talks between Mayweather and Pacquiao broke down earlier in the year.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk
***
‘SUGAR’ Shane Mosley, never one to be short of a few words, is planning on wrecking fight fans’ best laid plans by defeating both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao this year.
The three-weight world champion insists that he will end ‘Money’ Mayweather’s unbeaten 40-fight run on May 1 before catching up with ‘Pacman’ in the summer.
After Manny’s faultless points victory over brave but totally outgunned Joshua Clottey last weekend, Mosley said: "I would like to congratulate Manny on his victory Saturday night even though I think it put most of the fans watching to sleep.
"Now it’s time for the world to focus on May 1 when I promise you nobody will be sleeping except for Floyd after I knock him out and send him back into retirement.
"Maybe if Floyd comes back a second time, he and Manny will fight one day, but it will only be for the opportunity to fight me again; the man who beat both of them."
Meanwhile, both Mayweather and Mosley will begin the US Anti-Doping Agency gold standard anti-doping program on Monday as they continue to prepare for their clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It is the first time this level of drug testing has been used in the pro ring.
The program involves no-advance-notice sample collection of the athletes’ blood and urine prior to and after the fight so that all banned substances, some of which do not show up in urine alone, are tested for thoroughly, and with both athletes subjected to the testing program leading up to as well as after the fight.
The stringent drug testing programme is thought to have been the reason why talks between Mayweather and Pacquiao broke down earlier in the year.
Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk
***
Pacquiao’s next fight in November -- Manila Bulletin
By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin
If indeed Manny Pacquiao’s next fight will be held in November, it would be the longest time that the Filipino star will be away from his ring duties.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told the Bulletin Fruday from his Las Vegas home that the earliest Pacquiao will be seen by his fans wearing a pair of gloves and stripped from the waist up will be in November – not October – as what had been previously thought about.
“It won’t be in October because of the World Series (of Major League Ball) but November,” said Arum.
Pacquiao is coming off a lopsided win over Joshua Clottey in Dallas, Texas, and will be out of the ring for the next eight months.
Arum is willing to wait that long because Pacquiao has a tougher assignment in less than two months albeit outside the ring.
Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in Sarangani province and Arum said he would only be able to say something concrete after the May 10 elections.
In the event Arum and Pacquiao both agree that the next fight to be made should be in November, that would leave Pacquiao inactive for eight months.
Ever since he turned professional in the mid-1990s, Pacquiao has made it a point to fight regularly.
In the last few years, Pacquiao has fought an average of three fights a year and the longest time he was inactive was in between the May 2004 split draw with Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and the December 2004 knockout win over Fahsang 3k Battery of Thailand.
As to the name of the opponent that Pacquiao will face in November, Arum and another key member of Pacquiao’s party, trainer Freddie Roach, are both on the same page although they slightly differ when it comes to who should be prioritized.
"There’s (Antonio) Margarito, (Edwin) Valero, or (Juan Manuel) Marquez,” said Arum.
Roach also mentioned the same names but in different order.
“Valero, Marquez, or Margarito,” said the celebrated corner man.
Source: mb.com.ph
If indeed Manny Pacquiao’s next fight will be held in November, it would be the longest time that the Filipino star will be away from his ring duties.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told the Bulletin Fruday from his Las Vegas home that the earliest Pacquiao will be seen by his fans wearing a pair of gloves and stripped from the waist up will be in November – not October – as what had been previously thought about.
“It won’t be in October because of the World Series (of Major League Ball) but November,” said Arum.
Pacquiao is coming off a lopsided win over Joshua Clottey in Dallas, Texas, and will be out of the ring for the next eight months.
Arum is willing to wait that long because Pacquiao has a tougher assignment in less than two months albeit outside the ring.
Pacquiao is running for a congressional seat in Sarangani province and Arum said he would only be able to say something concrete after the May 10 elections.
In the event Arum and Pacquiao both agree that the next fight to be made should be in November, that would leave Pacquiao inactive for eight months.
Ever since he turned professional in the mid-1990s, Pacquiao has made it a point to fight regularly.
In the last few years, Pacquiao has fought an average of three fights a year and the longest time he was inactive was in between the May 2004 split draw with Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and the December 2004 knockout win over Fahsang 3k Battery of Thailand.
As to the name of the opponent that Pacquiao will face in November, Arum and another key member of Pacquiao’s party, trainer Freddie Roach, are both on the same page although they slightly differ when it comes to who should be prioritized.
"There’s (Antonio) Margarito, (Edwin) Valero, or (Juan Manuel) Marquez,” said Arum.
Roach also mentioned the same names but in different order.
“Valero, Marquez, or Margarito,” said the celebrated corner man.
Source: mb.com.ph
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency outlines drug-testing regimen for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley -- New York Daily News
By Nathaniel Vinton, NY Daily News
There will be blood.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Thursday outlined parts of the Olympic-style drug-testing program it has put in place for the blockbuster May 1 fight between boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and former BALCO customer Shane Mosley.
USADA's regimen, which includes random blood sampling and other strict measures, outpaces any other anti-doping effort in professional boxing. Both fighters volunteered for the USADA program. Prospects for a previous bout between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao foundered over disputes over drug-testing procedures.
In a conference call Thursday, representatives for both boxers were joined by USADA CEO Travis Tygart, who said Mosley and Mayweather will notify USADA of their whereabouts at all moments between now and the fight in Vegas. USADA may keep the fighters' samples in storage for testing in the distant future, when anti-doping science may have evolved to detect now-invisible substances and methods.
"These athletes are courageous in their position and their desire to be held to the most stringent anti-doping program to protect their right to compete clean," Tygart said. "At this point, both athletes have agreed to USADA's testing protocols, including both blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere, anytime."
Blood testing is customary in Olympic sports, but professional sports leagues in the U.S. have resisted implementing it. Such tests are the only way laboratories can detect the use of human growth hormone and several other doping methods thought to boost strength and stamina.
The new agreement also brings USADA into an awkward sort of partnership with Mosley, who testified before the BALCO grand jury that he injected himself with drugs supplied by BALCO founder Victor Conte, but escaped the kind of punishments other BALCO athletes faced. Mosley has claimed he didn't know the drugs he took were the endurance-boosting EPO and steroids, and has spent two years suing Conte for defamation for saying he told Mosley what the drugs were.
"We thought long and hard about it and its impact on us, whether we could be a part of this effort," Tygart said when asked if there was an investigation into Mosley's BALCO links. "At the end of the day we asked ourselves, what would clean athletes want us to do. From that perspective, clean athletes in this sport and in this event have asked us to be involved."
Tygart said that if USADA had had jurisdiction over boxing in 2003, it would have aggressively pursued evidence implicating Mosley, but that any hypothetical suspension would have been complete by this point.
"If he did cheat, and he does again, he will be caught and exposed in our program," Tygart said.
Source: nydailynews.com
There will be blood.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Thursday outlined parts of the Olympic-style drug-testing program it has put in place for the blockbuster May 1 fight between boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and former BALCO customer Shane Mosley.
USADA's regimen, which includes random blood sampling and other strict measures, outpaces any other anti-doping effort in professional boxing. Both fighters volunteered for the USADA program. Prospects for a previous bout between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao foundered over disputes over drug-testing procedures.
In a conference call Thursday, representatives for both boxers were joined by USADA CEO Travis Tygart, who said Mosley and Mayweather will notify USADA of their whereabouts at all moments between now and the fight in Vegas. USADA may keep the fighters' samples in storage for testing in the distant future, when anti-doping science may have evolved to detect now-invisible substances and methods.
"These athletes are courageous in their position and their desire to be held to the most stringent anti-doping program to protect their right to compete clean," Tygart said. "At this point, both athletes have agreed to USADA's testing protocols, including both blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere, anytime."
Blood testing is customary in Olympic sports, but professional sports leagues in the U.S. have resisted implementing it. Such tests are the only way laboratories can detect the use of human growth hormone and several other doping methods thought to boost strength and stamina.
The new agreement also brings USADA into an awkward sort of partnership with Mosley, who testified before the BALCO grand jury that he injected himself with drugs supplied by BALCO founder Victor Conte, but escaped the kind of punishments other BALCO athletes faced. Mosley has claimed he didn't know the drugs he took were the endurance-boosting EPO and steroids, and has spent two years suing Conte for defamation for saying he told Mosley what the drugs were.
"We thought long and hard about it and its impact on us, whether we could be a part of this effort," Tygart said when asked if there was an investigation into Mosley's BALCO links. "At the end of the day we asked ourselves, what would clean athletes want us to do. From that perspective, clean athletes in this sport and in this event have asked us to be involved."
Tygart said that if USADA had had jurisdiction over boxing in 2003, it would have aggressively pursued evidence implicating Mosley, but that any hypothetical suspension would have been complete by this point.
"If he did cheat, and he does again, he will be caught and exposed in our program," Tygart said.
Source: nydailynews.com
USADA's Travis Tygart Says 'Test Blood'; Richard Schaefer, 'Zero Tolerance' -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
If Floyd Mayweather or Shane Mosley is found to have used performance-enhancing drugs or steroids in advance of their May 1 bout as a result undergoing Olympic Style random drug and urinalysis testing required in their contracts, he could be disqualified, the bout canceled, and he could face a two-year suspension from boxing.
"At this point, both athletes have agreed to USADA's testing protocols, including both blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere at any time. Our staff has met with each athlete and their camps to explain the procedures and the process," said Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which has been brought in to administer the testing for 38-year-old WBA welterweight titlist Mosley (46-5, 49 knockouts) and 33-year-old challenger Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs).
"Each athlete has submitted their whereabouts information, so they can be located for this unannounced blood and urine testing. There is no limit on the number of tests that we can complete on these boxers. Of course, those will be distributed among the boxers in a fair manner," said Tygart.
"Any positive test will be made public following a thorough legal process that's provided under our protocols. And, of course, if one or more of the boxers commits an anti-doping rule violation, WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] code penalties will be put into place," said Tygart. "In accordance with the WADA code sanctions, there is a two-year penalty suspension that will be put into place, and disqualification in advance of this fight if a boxer tests positive."
Initially brought in to oversee the Olympic-style, random blood-testing that was at the center of the controversy leading to the demise of the negotiations for a bout between Mayweather and WBO welterweight king, Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), Tygart spoke to reporters on Thursday regarding his similar role in the match up between Mayweather and Mosley slated for the MGM Grand in Las vegas.
"Today is another watershed moment in the advancement of anti-doping efforts that has happened over the past several years," said Tygart. "For the first time, you have professional athletes in the sport of boxing approaching us to implement an anti-doping program, and those athletes are now fully enrolled in this program."
Tygart applauded Mayweather and Mosley, the latter of whom once admitted to using the steroids, "The cream," and, "The clear," before defeating Oscar de la Hoya for the second time in September of 2003 in Las Vegas.
"It is simply false to say that urine can detect everything that you would be concerned about. You have to do blood," said Tygart, referring to the fact that the Nevada State Athletic Commission's urinalysis-only system failed to detect the drugs in Mosley's system for the de La Hoya fight.
"I think that all of the commissions across the United States will [eventually] adopt it [random blood testing,]" said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions.
"I hope that this will be the trigger," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Mosley. "This is not up to a trainer, a fighter or a promoter. It really is up to the athletic commissions to ensure that they keep both of their eyes open, and when they see that certain things are happening, that they act accordingly swiftly and strict."
In an interview on Wednesday, Schaefer said that he is for "Zero tolerance" of drugs in boxing.
"We always have to remember that boxing is two guys in the middle of the ring hitting each other. This is not dunking a ball, or hitting a ball with a bat. This is hitting another person. This is different. This is not about cycling up a hill. This is two people hitting each other and, therefore, playing with each other's life," said Schaefer.
"I'm not saying that cheating or having tools available which are unauthorized is acceptable in any sport, but here in boxing, it's really playing with somebody's life," said Schaefer. "It's not just about winning a game. That's why I think in boxing there should be zero tolerance, be it with illegal hand wraps, be it with performance enhancing drugs or whatever. I think that this is very serious."
Tygart said that the USADA program includes testing for a full menu of prohibitive substances and methods, adding that Mayweather and Mosley will "Be held to our program," and, "The same standard that all Olympic athletes around the world are being held to, which is WADA code standard."
Under USADA's "out-of-competition testing pool," Mayweather and Mosley are "subject to the same list of prohibited substances that the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2010 list of substances," including the four main, potent drugs that urine testing won't find -- Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Homologus Blood Tranfusion (HBT), Synthetic Hemoglobin (HBOC) and the passport program, according to Tygart.
It was during an interview with FanHouse last month, that Tygart initially broke down "A host of significant and potent performance enhancing drugs that only blood will detect."
"Those include human growth hormone [HGH]; HBOC -- and that is synthetic hemoglobin; transfusions; and certain forms of EPO, such as Mircera, which is essentially a designer EPO. So those are a few of the specific drugs. There is also a different technique, which is known as parameter testing, which is done by the blood, or biological passport testing," said Tygart.
"Essentially, what it does is that it does not detect a specific drug like HGH. But it looks at a host of parameters or biological markers that are natural to everyone's body. And over time -- if you look at those for an individual -- over time, you can see variability or fluctuations in those naturally occurring markers that we all have," said Tygart.
"And if you see fluctuations to a certain degree, you can conclusively determine that those fluctuations were caused by nothing other than drug use, and certain categories of drug use," said Tygart. "Not necessarily a specific drug, but categories of drug use."
The Mayweather-Pacquiao talks broke down over the latter's refusal to have his blood drawn within 24 days of the bout with Mayweather, citing his belief that doing so would weaken him.
Pacquiao has since filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character, naming Schaefer and de la Hoya, CEO and president, respectively, of Golden Boy Promotions, Mayweather, his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.
"Whether you're the best boxer in the world, or the second-best athlete, or an up-and-comer, if you're clean, you have no reason not to be part of this program. In fact, you should demand it," said Tygart, when asked what he thought of Pacquiao's refusal to have blood drawn.
"We've seen thousands of athletes around the U.S., and many more millions around the world, voluntarily participating in this type of program. Like Floyd Mayweather, we've had athletes coming to us to protect their fundamental right to participate according to the rules of their sport," said Tygart.
"Why should any athlete have to be forced to endanger their own health, and, potentially, their lives in a combat sport like boxing," said Tygart, "or compromise their values by being forced to cheat with performance-enhancing drugs because their sport has allowed cheating to take over their culture."
Although New York's reportedly considering it, no state boxing commission presently requires blood testing for drugs -- only urinalysis.
"When your sport's not doing everything possible to protect your right, it takes an awful lot of courage. We've seen in the past where athletes who spoke out were cast aside, and I think it's really unfortunate that athletes don't have more of a voice when it comes to this issue," said Tygart.
"Athletes now know that they can come to the World Anti-Doping Agency, and to the USADA's of the world and countries and have a protector who is going to say, 'We're here to protect your right," said Tygart. "And we will fight that with you, if you're willing to subject yourself to our testing."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
If Floyd Mayweather or Shane Mosley is found to have used performance-enhancing drugs or steroids in advance of their May 1 bout as a result undergoing Olympic Style random drug and urinalysis testing required in their contracts, he could be disqualified, the bout canceled, and he could face a two-year suspension from boxing.
"At this point, both athletes have agreed to USADA's testing protocols, including both blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere at any time. Our staff has met with each athlete and their camps to explain the procedures and the process," said Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which has been brought in to administer the testing for 38-year-old WBA welterweight titlist Mosley (46-5, 49 knockouts) and 33-year-old challenger Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs).
"Each athlete has submitted their whereabouts information, so they can be located for this unannounced blood and urine testing. There is no limit on the number of tests that we can complete on these boxers. Of course, those will be distributed among the boxers in a fair manner," said Tygart.
"Any positive test will be made public following a thorough legal process that's provided under our protocols. And, of course, if one or more of the boxers commits an anti-doping rule violation, WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] code penalties will be put into place," said Tygart. "In accordance with the WADA code sanctions, there is a two-year penalty suspension that will be put into place, and disqualification in advance of this fight if a boxer tests positive."
Initially brought in to oversee the Olympic-style, random blood-testing that was at the center of the controversy leading to the demise of the negotiations for a bout between Mayweather and WBO welterweight king, Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), Tygart spoke to reporters on Thursday regarding his similar role in the match up between Mayweather and Mosley slated for the MGM Grand in Las vegas.
"Today is another watershed moment in the advancement of anti-doping efforts that has happened over the past several years," said Tygart. "For the first time, you have professional athletes in the sport of boxing approaching us to implement an anti-doping program, and those athletes are now fully enrolled in this program."
Tygart applauded Mayweather and Mosley, the latter of whom once admitted to using the steroids, "The cream," and, "The clear," before defeating Oscar de la Hoya for the second time in September of 2003 in Las Vegas.
"It is simply false to say that urine can detect everything that you would be concerned about. You have to do blood," said Tygart, referring to the fact that the Nevada State Athletic Commission's urinalysis-only system failed to detect the drugs in Mosley's system for the de La Hoya fight.
"I think that all of the commissions across the United States will [eventually] adopt it [random blood testing,]" said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions.
"I hope that this will be the trigger," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Mosley. "This is not up to a trainer, a fighter or a promoter. It really is up to the athletic commissions to ensure that they keep both of their eyes open, and when they see that certain things are happening, that they act accordingly swiftly and strict."
In an interview on Wednesday, Schaefer said that he is for "Zero tolerance" of drugs in boxing.
"We always have to remember that boxing is two guys in the middle of the ring hitting each other. This is not dunking a ball, or hitting a ball with a bat. This is hitting another person. This is different. This is not about cycling up a hill. This is two people hitting each other and, therefore, playing with each other's life," said Schaefer.
"I'm not saying that cheating or having tools available which are unauthorized is acceptable in any sport, but here in boxing, it's really playing with somebody's life," said Schaefer. "It's not just about winning a game. That's why I think in boxing there should be zero tolerance, be it with illegal hand wraps, be it with performance enhancing drugs or whatever. I think that this is very serious."
Tygart said that the USADA program includes testing for a full menu of prohibitive substances and methods, adding that Mayweather and Mosley will "Be held to our program," and, "The same standard that all Olympic athletes around the world are being held to, which is WADA code standard."
Under USADA's "out-of-competition testing pool," Mayweather and Mosley are "subject to the same list of prohibited substances that the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2010 list of substances," including the four main, potent drugs that urine testing won't find -- Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Homologus Blood Tranfusion (HBT), Synthetic Hemoglobin (HBOC) and the passport program, according to Tygart.
It was during an interview with FanHouse last month, that Tygart initially broke down "A host of significant and potent performance enhancing drugs that only blood will detect."
"Those include human growth hormone [HGH]; HBOC -- and that is synthetic hemoglobin; transfusions; and certain forms of EPO, such as Mircera, which is essentially a designer EPO. So those are a few of the specific drugs. There is also a different technique, which is known as parameter testing, which is done by the blood, or biological passport testing," said Tygart.
"Essentially, what it does is that it does not detect a specific drug like HGH. But it looks at a host of parameters or biological markers that are natural to everyone's body. And over time -- if you look at those for an individual -- over time, you can see variability or fluctuations in those naturally occurring markers that we all have," said Tygart.
"And if you see fluctuations to a certain degree, you can conclusively determine that those fluctuations were caused by nothing other than drug use, and certain categories of drug use," said Tygart. "Not necessarily a specific drug, but categories of drug use."
The Mayweather-Pacquiao talks broke down over the latter's refusal to have his blood drawn within 24 days of the bout with Mayweather, citing his belief that doing so would weaken him.
Pacquiao has since filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character, naming Schaefer and de la Hoya, CEO and president, respectively, of Golden Boy Promotions, Mayweather, his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.
"Whether you're the best boxer in the world, or the second-best athlete, or an up-and-comer, if you're clean, you have no reason not to be part of this program. In fact, you should demand it," said Tygart, when asked what he thought of Pacquiao's refusal to have blood drawn.
"We've seen thousands of athletes around the U.S., and many more millions around the world, voluntarily participating in this type of program. Like Floyd Mayweather, we've had athletes coming to us to protect their fundamental right to participate according to the rules of their sport," said Tygart.
"Why should any athlete have to be forced to endanger their own health, and, potentially, their lives in a combat sport like boxing," said Tygart, "or compromise their values by being forced to cheat with performance-enhancing drugs because their sport has allowed cheating to take over their culture."
Although New York's reportedly considering it, no state boxing commission presently requires blood testing for drugs -- only urinalysis.
"When your sport's not doing everything possible to protect your right, it takes an awful lot of courage. We've seen in the past where athletes who spoke out were cast aside, and I think it's really unfortunate that athletes don't have more of a voice when it comes to this issue," said Tygart.
"Athletes now know that they can come to the World Anti-Doping Agency, and to the USADA's of the world and countries and have a protector who is going to say, 'We're here to protect your right," said Tygart. "And we will fight that with you, if you're willing to subject yourself to our testing."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Vazquez, Marquez not done mixing it up -- The Orange County Register
By MARK WHICKER, The Orange County Register
LOS ANGELES – It's a laughable question to ask of a sport that often gives us 12 rounds without contact and 365 days without significance.
But can a fight be too good?
Especially for the good of the fighters?
Oscar De La Hoya asked himself that question when Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez told him they were not done with each other, not after 25 rounds and three matches that represented boxing's highest common denominator.
"I was one of those who didn't want to see it again," De La Hoya said Thursday. "These guys fought three wars that, historically, were as good as any trilogy we've ever seen."
But eventually De La Hoya was outvoted "two to one," he said.
He also had other numbers in mind, particularly attendance numbers at Staples Center.
So, on May 22, here comes the fourth Battle of Mexico.
"I have to respect what the fighters want," De La Hoya said. "They wanted to close the book on who's best, once and for all. They wanted to give it to the fans. This will sell out this building. There's nothing I can do but stage it."
Vazquez and Marquez first met at The Home Depot Center on March 3, 2007. Marquez, coming up to 121 pounds, broke Vazquez's nose and won in the seventh round.
The first rematch was only five months and a day later, in Hidalgo, Texas, and Vazquez won that one in six.
The "tiebreaker" happened March 1, 2007, again at Home Depot. By now the true fans were riveted and a fairly wide chunk of "event" fans were curious. After 11 rounds, Marquez led.
"But then he felt he could just get through the 12th round and win a decision," remembered Eric Gomez, the matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions. "He was fighting not to lose. Israel was fighting to win."
Which he did, with a dazzling 12th round that earned him a split decision by one point.
"But nobody felt there was closure," said Frank Espinoza, Vazquez's manager.
How could there be? It was like losing the seventh game of the World Series on an infield single.
No one can deny Vazquez and Marquez the chance to take their hearts, souls and, really, lives into the ring once more.
Not if you sat there numbly Saturday night and waited 12 rounds for Joshua Clottey to mount the slightest hostility toward Manny Pacquiao. Not if a juicy fight like Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. still is a figment of PlayStation. Not if you watched any heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis retired Mike Tyson.
But you also reserve the right to shut at least one eye.
"There have been some comments from people," Gomez said. "Some people have mixed emotions. They're compassionate. But the hard core boxing fan says, 'Yeah! Fight 10 times.'
"Everywhere these boxers go, people ask them when they're getting back in the ring. Some of the on-and-off fans are interested, too. Maybe they missed one of the previous fights. They don't want to do that again."
Vazquez says he's heard the concerns.
"I don't have anything bad to say about people who say that," he said, through an interpreter, "but I know I want this fight because I want to prove who the better fighter is."
But then the outcome is almost irrelevant to many fans. They're in it for the thrill ride to the top of boxing's aspirations. In many of those 25 rounds, each fighter took turns at the controls, almost like improv theatre. Except the blood was real.
Vazquez has spent most of the past two years recovering from detached retina surgery. Each man has fought and won once, not very impressively, since Vazquez-Marquez III.
Marquez's only subsequent fight was a 3-round TKO of Jose Mendoza in Mexico last May 23.
The two Mexico City natives have not become buddies like Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward were, but they are cordial. They speak at restaurant encounters, and Marquez came over to shake Vazquez's hand Thursday. Certainly they know how they have defined, and enriched, each other. In each fight, Vazquez and Marquez have split the gate evenly.
"They are legends," said Gary Shaw, Marquez's promoter. "They will walk into the Hall of Fame together. To me, this is just the start of the next trilogy."
Maybe. For now it's Vazquez-Marquez IV.
De La Hoya speaks for an entire sport when he hopes the IV stands for four and not intravenous.
mwhicker@ocregister.com
Source: ocregister.com
LOS ANGELES – It's a laughable question to ask of a sport that often gives us 12 rounds without contact and 365 days without significance.
But can a fight be too good?
Especially for the good of the fighters?
Oscar De La Hoya asked himself that question when Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez told him they were not done with each other, not after 25 rounds and three matches that represented boxing's highest common denominator.
"I was one of those who didn't want to see it again," De La Hoya said Thursday. "These guys fought three wars that, historically, were as good as any trilogy we've ever seen."
But eventually De La Hoya was outvoted "two to one," he said.
He also had other numbers in mind, particularly attendance numbers at Staples Center.
So, on May 22, here comes the fourth Battle of Mexico.
"I have to respect what the fighters want," De La Hoya said. "They wanted to close the book on who's best, once and for all. They wanted to give it to the fans. This will sell out this building. There's nothing I can do but stage it."
Vazquez and Marquez first met at The Home Depot Center on March 3, 2007. Marquez, coming up to 121 pounds, broke Vazquez's nose and won in the seventh round.
The first rematch was only five months and a day later, in Hidalgo, Texas, and Vazquez won that one in six.
The "tiebreaker" happened March 1, 2007, again at Home Depot. By now the true fans were riveted and a fairly wide chunk of "event" fans were curious. After 11 rounds, Marquez led.
"But then he felt he could just get through the 12th round and win a decision," remembered Eric Gomez, the matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions. "He was fighting not to lose. Israel was fighting to win."
Which he did, with a dazzling 12th round that earned him a split decision by one point.
"But nobody felt there was closure," said Frank Espinoza, Vazquez's manager.
How could there be? It was like losing the seventh game of the World Series on an infield single.
No one can deny Vazquez and Marquez the chance to take their hearts, souls and, really, lives into the ring once more.
Not if you sat there numbly Saturday night and waited 12 rounds for Joshua Clottey to mount the slightest hostility toward Manny Pacquiao. Not if a juicy fight like Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. still is a figment of PlayStation. Not if you watched any heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis retired Mike Tyson.
But you also reserve the right to shut at least one eye.
"There have been some comments from people," Gomez said. "Some people have mixed emotions. They're compassionate. But the hard core boxing fan says, 'Yeah! Fight 10 times.'
"Everywhere these boxers go, people ask them when they're getting back in the ring. Some of the on-and-off fans are interested, too. Maybe they missed one of the previous fights. They don't want to do that again."
Vazquez says he's heard the concerns.
"I don't have anything bad to say about people who say that," he said, through an interpreter, "but I know I want this fight because I want to prove who the better fighter is."
But then the outcome is almost irrelevant to many fans. They're in it for the thrill ride to the top of boxing's aspirations. In many of those 25 rounds, each fighter took turns at the controls, almost like improv theatre. Except the blood was real.
Vazquez has spent most of the past two years recovering from detached retina surgery. Each man has fought and won once, not very impressively, since Vazquez-Marquez III.
Marquez's only subsequent fight was a 3-round TKO of Jose Mendoza in Mexico last May 23.
The two Mexico City natives have not become buddies like Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward were, but they are cordial. They speak at restaurant encounters, and Marquez came over to shake Vazquez's hand Thursday. Certainly they know how they have defined, and enriched, each other. In each fight, Vazquez and Marquez have split the gate evenly.
"They are legends," said Gary Shaw, Marquez's promoter. "They will walk into the Hall of Fame together. To me, this is just the start of the next trilogy."
Maybe. For now it's Vazquez-Marquez IV.
De La Hoya speaks for an entire sport when he hopes the IV stands for four and not intravenous.
mwhicker@ocregister.com
Source: ocregister.com
Push to Test for H.G.H. Intensifies -- The New York Times
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and RICHARD SANDOMIR, The New York Times
The push for the blood testing of athletes was front and center in two sports Thursday, with two championship boxers agreeing to undergo such testing and Major League Baseball reiterating that it was moving forward to do the same in its minor leagues.
In boxing, Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley announced that they would allow the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees the testing of Olympic athletes, to test their blood and urine leading up to their bout May 1. It is the first time Usada will conduct tests in boxing.
Baseball made its statement about testing in response to criticism from the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. In a statement posted on WADA’s Web site Thursday, its president, John Fahey, said that if baseball’s owners and its players union were serious about testing for human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs, they would adopt blood testing without further delay.
Blood testing, which is conducted regularly only at the Olympic level, has become a subject of debate since a British rugby player was suspended last month for a positive blood test for human growth hormone. The test marked the first time that an athlete had been identified as testing positive for the substance and seemed to confirm that the test — which had been used on a limited basis over the past six years — could indeed catch cheats.
The decision by Mayweather and Mosley to undergo Olympic-style testing was of significance because it came two months after Manny Pacquiao objected to a blood-testing regimen that Mayweather had demanded as part of a showdown bout between them. Mosley has previously said he received designer steroids from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative years ago but was not told that they were prohibited.
Meanwhile, in the statement addressed to Major League Baseball and its union, Fahey, Wada’s president, said: “We continue to read statements from the M.L.B. commissioner and M.L.B.P.A. representatives questioning the appropriateness of implementing blood-testing in the league. This is nonsense.”
He added, “If they are serious about getting rid of cheaters, the M.L.B. and the M.L.B.P.A. should listen to those players who supported blood collection in the past few weeks and start implementing a testing program.”
In response, Major League Baseball said that Fahey was off the mark and that it wanted to quickly institute a blood test for H.G.H. in the minor leagues, where union consent is not needed.
“Major League Baseball representatives have publicly stated numerous times, including at the Partnership for Clean Competition conference hosted at our offices two weeks ago, that we are currently exploring the feasibility of conducting blood testing for H.G.H. in the minor leagues as soon as possible,” said Rob Manfred, baseball’s top drug-testing official.
Commissioner Bud Selig has told his deputies that he wants H.G.H. testing begun in the minor leagues as soon as possible, according to officials in baseball, who did not want to be identified discussing internal deliberations of the commissioner’s office. Selig is waiting on a report from his antidoping experts before proceeding, they said.
Manfred, in his statement, said the commissioner’s office had begun a dialogue with the union on blood testing.
In turn, Michael Weiner, the executive director of the union, issued a statement that confirmed that there had been discussions on the matter.
“We look forward to further discussions as we jointly explore how we might strengthen our program as it relates to H.G.H.,” Weiner said.
Source: nytimes.com
The push for the blood testing of athletes was front and center in two sports Thursday, with two championship boxers agreeing to undergo such testing and Major League Baseball reiterating that it was moving forward to do the same in its minor leagues.
In boxing, Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley announced that they would allow the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees the testing of Olympic athletes, to test their blood and urine leading up to their bout May 1. It is the first time Usada will conduct tests in boxing.
Baseball made its statement about testing in response to criticism from the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. In a statement posted on WADA’s Web site Thursday, its president, John Fahey, said that if baseball’s owners and its players union were serious about testing for human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs, they would adopt blood testing without further delay.
Blood testing, which is conducted regularly only at the Olympic level, has become a subject of debate since a British rugby player was suspended last month for a positive blood test for human growth hormone. The test marked the first time that an athlete had been identified as testing positive for the substance and seemed to confirm that the test — which had been used on a limited basis over the past six years — could indeed catch cheats.
The decision by Mayweather and Mosley to undergo Olympic-style testing was of significance because it came two months after Manny Pacquiao objected to a blood-testing regimen that Mayweather had demanded as part of a showdown bout between them. Mosley has previously said he received designer steroids from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative years ago but was not told that they were prohibited.
Meanwhile, in the statement addressed to Major League Baseball and its union, Fahey, Wada’s president, said: “We continue to read statements from the M.L.B. commissioner and M.L.B.P.A. representatives questioning the appropriateness of implementing blood-testing in the league. This is nonsense.”
He added, “If they are serious about getting rid of cheaters, the M.L.B. and the M.L.B.P.A. should listen to those players who supported blood collection in the past few weeks and start implementing a testing program.”
In response, Major League Baseball said that Fahey was off the mark and that it wanted to quickly institute a blood test for H.G.H. in the minor leagues, where union consent is not needed.
“Major League Baseball representatives have publicly stated numerous times, including at the Partnership for Clean Competition conference hosted at our offices two weeks ago, that we are currently exploring the feasibility of conducting blood testing for H.G.H. in the minor leagues as soon as possible,” said Rob Manfred, baseball’s top drug-testing official.
Commissioner Bud Selig has told his deputies that he wants H.G.H. testing begun in the minor leagues as soon as possible, according to officials in baseball, who did not want to be identified discussing internal deliberations of the commissioner’s office. Selig is waiting on a report from his antidoping experts before proceeding, they said.
Manfred, in his statement, said the commissioner’s office had begun a dialogue with the union on blood testing.
In turn, Michael Weiner, the executive director of the union, issued a statement that confirmed that there had been discussions on the matter.
“We look forward to further discussions as we jointly explore how we might strengthen our program as it relates to H.G.H.,” Weiner said.
Source: nytimes.com
Floyd Mayweather's renegade demand for Olympic-style drug testing just might become boxing's norm -- Grand Rapids Press
By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press
Regardless what anyone thinks about Floyd Mayweather's emphasis on mandatory blood testing in boxing, the pressure it has brought to bear is forcing his sport into self-examination.
Melvina Lathan, chairwoman of the powerful New York State Athletic Commission, this week announced that body has instructed its medical advisory board to review whether blood testing should be part of how boxing screens for banned substances.
If it enacted such testing, New York would become the first major boxing regulatory body to do so.
Dr. Margaret Goodman and Dr. Flip Homansky, both former ranking officials in the Nevada State Athletic Commission, also have said boxing's urine-only testing makes it a fertile ground for performance-enhancing drugs that can't be detected that way, and have urged Nevada to reconsider its stance against it.
Mayweather, who reached an impasse in talks for a fight with Manny Pacquiao over the latter's refusal to submit to Olympic-style, random blood and urine testing, found a willing participant in Shane Mosley, who agreed to those very terms.
And Thursday, those closest to the May 1 Mayweather-Mosley arrangements ramped up the pressure with a teleconference on which the chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, again emphasized how inadequate boxing's urine-only testing is.
Tygart called Mayweather-Mosley "another watershed moment" in the effort to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs, comparing it to when the Olympics turned to the World Anti-Doping Agency and its sub-groups -- of which the USADA is one -- for independent testing, thereby eliminating the potential conflict of promoters policing the athletes they promote.
Mayweather, the Grand Rapids native who is unbeaten in more than 13 years as a professional, has taken a lot of heat for his stance. Some people have interpreted it as a way to dodge the Pacquiao fight by not accepting boxing's standards.
Tygart, who called those very standards "a joke" in an interview with The Grand Rapids Press two months ago , said he looks at it much differently.
"It takes a lot of courage when your sport is not doing everything possible to protect your rights," Tygart said.
If either Mayweather or Mosley tests positive, Tygart said a two-year USADA suspension would be imposed, just as on a first-offender Olympian.
Such a suspension would be symbolic, of course, unless boxing commissions honored it.
Tygart said USADA gave careful consideration to whether there was enough time to implement an effective testing program for Mayweather-Mosley, given that some banned substances, most notably human growth hormone -- which is naturally produced and present in everyone, to varying degrees -- is best detected by establishing each individual's base-line levels and comparing them over long periods of time.
The organization ultimately decided it was "comfortable" taking on testing for the fight, Tygart said.
"And keep in mind, baseline is just one aspect of our program," he said. "We also specifically detect. Baselining is not necessary if you're trying to detect individual administration of steroids.
"Obviously, we'd prefer to have them in the program for a longer period of time prior to the fight but, again, we were comfortable because we were asked by an athlete to have the most stringent program put in place. And we weren't going to back away from having that program put in place."
Fighters were instructed on the process last weekend, agreed to let USADA know their whereabouts at all times and are subject to random blood and urine testing at any time up to and after the fight.
There will be no limit on tests, and samples will be stored for several years, just as with Olympic athletes, Tygart said.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's adviser, said he thinks "all the commissions across the United States eventually will get on board with this," and Tygart stressed that is the only way to protect contestants in a combat sport.
Increasingly, what initially was perceived as a renegade requirement by Mayweather could be turning into the way of the future.
"It's never too late for something good," Ellerbe said. "With guys volunteering for more stringent testing, how can you go wrong with that?"
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
Regardless what anyone thinks about Floyd Mayweather's emphasis on mandatory blood testing in boxing, the pressure it has brought to bear is forcing his sport into self-examination.
Melvina Lathan, chairwoman of the powerful New York State Athletic Commission, this week announced that body has instructed its medical advisory board to review whether blood testing should be part of how boxing screens for banned substances.
If it enacted such testing, New York would become the first major boxing regulatory body to do so.
Dr. Margaret Goodman and Dr. Flip Homansky, both former ranking officials in the Nevada State Athletic Commission, also have said boxing's urine-only testing makes it a fertile ground for performance-enhancing drugs that can't be detected that way, and have urged Nevada to reconsider its stance against it.
Mayweather, who reached an impasse in talks for a fight with Manny Pacquiao over the latter's refusal to submit to Olympic-style, random blood and urine testing, found a willing participant in Shane Mosley, who agreed to those very terms.
And Thursday, those closest to the May 1 Mayweather-Mosley arrangements ramped up the pressure with a teleconference on which the chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, again emphasized how inadequate boxing's urine-only testing is.
Tygart called Mayweather-Mosley "another watershed moment" in the effort to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs, comparing it to when the Olympics turned to the World Anti-Doping Agency and its sub-groups -- of which the USADA is one -- for independent testing, thereby eliminating the potential conflict of promoters policing the athletes they promote.
Mayweather, the Grand Rapids native who is unbeaten in more than 13 years as a professional, has taken a lot of heat for his stance. Some people have interpreted it as a way to dodge the Pacquiao fight by not accepting boxing's standards.
Tygart, who called those very standards "a joke" in an interview with The Grand Rapids Press two months ago , said he looks at it much differently.
"It takes a lot of courage when your sport is not doing everything possible to protect your rights," Tygart said.
If either Mayweather or Mosley tests positive, Tygart said a two-year USADA suspension would be imposed, just as on a first-offender Olympian.
Such a suspension would be symbolic, of course, unless boxing commissions honored it.
Tygart said USADA gave careful consideration to whether there was enough time to implement an effective testing program for Mayweather-Mosley, given that some banned substances, most notably human growth hormone -- which is naturally produced and present in everyone, to varying degrees -- is best detected by establishing each individual's base-line levels and comparing them over long periods of time.
The organization ultimately decided it was "comfortable" taking on testing for the fight, Tygart said.
"And keep in mind, baseline is just one aspect of our program," he said. "We also specifically detect. Baselining is not necessary if you're trying to detect individual administration of steroids.
"Obviously, we'd prefer to have them in the program for a longer period of time prior to the fight but, again, we were comfortable because we were asked by an athlete to have the most stringent program put in place. And we weren't going to back away from having that program put in place."
Fighters were instructed on the process last weekend, agreed to let USADA know their whereabouts at all times and are subject to random blood and urine testing at any time up to and after the fight.
There will be no limit on tests, and samples will be stored for several years, just as with Olympic athletes, Tygart said.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's adviser, said he thinks "all the commissions across the United States eventually will get on board with this," and Tygart stressed that is the only way to protect contestants in a combat sport.
Increasingly, what initially was perceived as a renegade requirement by Mayweather could be turning into the way of the future.
"It's never too late for something good," Ellerbe said. "With guys volunteering for more stringent testing, how can you go wrong with that?"
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
Running around in circles…can we just get on with the fights? -- Telegraph
By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
One man WADA Floyd Mayweather and his opponent Shane Mosley will begin the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) anti-doping program on Monday, ahead of Mayweather vs Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Great fight, but such a lot of kerfuffle.
Fine. It is the first time in history that athletes from any U.S. professional sport have reached out and demanded World Anti-Doing Code compliant drug testing, setting a new precedent.
The program will involve no-advance-notice sample collection of the athletes’ blood and urine prior to and after the fight so that all banned substances, some of which do not show up in urine alone, are tested for thoroughly, and with both athletes subjected to the testing program leading up to as well as after the fight.
But it is unlikely to herald a complete change in the sport.
Yet Mayweather thinks so. “I am excited that Shane Mosley and I are willing to take these tests to ensure a fair fight on May 1. I just want to show the world that boxing is a clean sport and it is my hope that all fighters will take a similar stance and responsibility which reflects sportsmanship at the highest level and sets a new standard for safety in boxing.”
Mosley, of course, agrees. “I think the testing program is a great idea and I did not hesitate for a minute about agreeing to it. Let’s hope that the rest of the boxing world follows Floyd’s and my example.” I doubt it.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions said, “Floyd is leading the way for changing the sport and I commend him for that. Some people have asked why he has not asked for it in the past but it is never too late to take a stand on an issue that is prevalent in all sports today and ask for something that can only have positive results on the future of boxing.”
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said, “Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and I commend him for agreeing to participate in a testing process that can only help the integrity of the sport. I commend both of these fighters for setting a new precedent in the sport and giving others an opportunity to reflect on its current state and how, as a collective group, we can continue to make the sport better, safer and fairer for anyone who steps in to the ring.”
We continue in circles. Paulie Malignaggi says Amir Khan is a stronger opponent than Hatton. Khan says Malignaggi is ‘stupid’. Malignaggi continues to assert that there are drugs cheats in boxing…the pair clash in New York on May 15. Khan is likely to slice through the Brooklynite with a flair for hairstyles.
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
One man WADA Floyd Mayweather and his opponent Shane Mosley will begin the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) anti-doping program on Monday, ahead of Mayweather vs Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Great fight, but such a lot of kerfuffle.
Fine. It is the first time in history that athletes from any U.S. professional sport have reached out and demanded World Anti-Doing Code compliant drug testing, setting a new precedent.
The program will involve no-advance-notice sample collection of the athletes’ blood and urine prior to and after the fight so that all banned substances, some of which do not show up in urine alone, are tested for thoroughly, and with both athletes subjected to the testing program leading up to as well as after the fight.
But it is unlikely to herald a complete change in the sport.
Yet Mayweather thinks so. “I am excited that Shane Mosley and I are willing to take these tests to ensure a fair fight on May 1. I just want to show the world that boxing is a clean sport and it is my hope that all fighters will take a similar stance and responsibility which reflects sportsmanship at the highest level and sets a new standard for safety in boxing.”
Mosley, of course, agrees. “I think the testing program is a great idea and I did not hesitate for a minute about agreeing to it. Let’s hope that the rest of the boxing world follows Floyd’s and my example.” I doubt it.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions said, “Floyd is leading the way for changing the sport and I commend him for that. Some people have asked why he has not asked for it in the past but it is never too late to take a stand on an issue that is prevalent in all sports today and ask for something that can only have positive results on the future of boxing.”
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said, “Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and I commend him for agreeing to participate in a testing process that can only help the integrity of the sport. I commend both of these fighters for setting a new precedent in the sport and giving others an opportunity to reflect on its current state and how, as a collective group, we can continue to make the sport better, safer and fairer for anyone who steps in to the ring.”
We continue in circles. Paulie Malignaggi says Amir Khan is a stronger opponent than Hatton. Khan says Malignaggi is ‘stupid’. Malignaggi continues to assert that there are drugs cheats in boxing…the pair clash in New York on May 15. Khan is likely to slice through the Brooklynite with a flair for hairstyles.
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
Boxer Manny Pacquiao a rising star in marketing -- San Francisco Chronicle
By Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer
Anthony Quemuel is such a big Manny Pacquiao fan that he dropped by a Pleasanton sporting goods store to buy the second pair of the boxer's special Nike "Pac Man" shoes that he's purchased this week.
"I need to have at least two pair because they're exclusive," said Quemuel, 29, of Union City. "When they came out, they sold out and you couldn't find them anywhere. The retail value was $110. They were going on the Internet for $225."
It's no surprise that the Philippine superstar with lightning-fast punches has such a strong following in the Bay Area, home to more than 356,000 Filipino Americans like Quemuel. But Pacquiao is becoming a household name, one of the rare sports stars with crossover appeal to even non-sports fans.
And although experts say he's not quite there, his appeal may translate into more marketing power for the man whom GQ magazine, in its April edition, calls a cross between Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara, Czech playwright Vaclav Havel, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, actor Sylvester Stallone, NFL quarterback Michael Vick and "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken.
"I definitely believe he's going to be a crossover star," said Marcus Troy, a Montreal blogger who writes about culture, lifestyle and fashion trends. "We haven't seen someone with his kind of charisma and skill in a long time."
Pacquiao, 31, has won world boxing titles in seven weight divisions and is ranked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Pacquiao's welterweight bout Saturday night against Joshua Clottey drew nearly 50,994 people to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the biggest U.S. boxing crowd in 17 years and third-largest in U.S. boxing history, even more remarkable because the sport's popularity has been waning.
But his popularity is transcending sports. Last year, Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people.
Earlier this month, Pacquiao received hearty cheers on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" even after crooning a less-than-stellar rendition of George Benson's "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You."
Nike gear
Featured displays of his line of Nike T-shirts, hoodies, shorts and shoes drew pre-fight crowds Saturday at stores like Niketown in downtown San Francisco and Champs Sports in Pleasanton's Stoneridge Shopping Center.
"What Nike is doing for him is giving him the spotlight, the platform," said Troy, who said the Nike line is also popular in places like Montreal and Toronto. "What I'm seeing with this Manny Pacquiao thing is that regular people who are fans of the man are buying his product. They like what he stands for."
Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert with San Francisco's Baker Street Advertising, said boxing hasn't seen a performer who has "captured the imagination of the casual fan in a long time."
"He's got more going for him than boxing," Dorfman said. "He appeals to both sexes. He's kind of a Renaissance man."
And at a time when the images of sports idols like Tiger Woods have been sullied by off-field transgressions, Pacquiao's image as a common-man-turned-champion remains clean.
"He's got a wonderful window of opportunity," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. But, he said, "the jury is out on whether he reaches that sort of iconic status."
Boxing is still not a top-tier sport in terms of popularity, and bouts are not frequent enough to hold the public's attention, he said. Olympic athletes, for whom the spotlight shines only once every four years, have a similar problem, unless they get creative and end up on "Dancing With the Stars" like gold medal skaters Apolo Anton Ohno or Evan Lysacek.
"Our world is built on 'What have you done for me lately?' " he said.
Mayweather bout
Dorfman said Pacquiao still needs a decisive win over six-time champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. A much-anticipated Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown is being held up by disputes over drug testing.
"That might put him over the hump in terms of making him a household name and face," Dorfman said.
Pacquiao's critics say his aspirations outside of the ring may also hold him back. Even with two platinum albums in the Philippines, his singing career suffered a setback this week when promoters canceled a "Manny Pacquiao Live in Hawaii Concert Celebration" scheduled for Sunday because of poor advance ticket sales.
And Pacquiao is again running in May for a seat in the Philippine Congress, even though his popularity hasn't translated to the polls - he lost a run for Congress in 2007.
Other major marketers may also be gun-shy about jumping on an athlete's coattails.
"Right now, advertisers are just so nervous about signing anybody to a big seven-figure deal again," Dorfman said. "After Tiger Woods, they don't know about anybody."
In good company
With his ring earnings and endorsements from Nike and San Miguel Beer, Manny Pacquiao was sixth on Forbes magazine's list of world's highest-paid athletes in 2009.
Tiger Woods was first with $110 million, but Pacquiao's $40 million tied him with NBA star LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson, and put him within $5 million of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, Formula One racer Kimi Raikkonen and soccer's David Beckham.
E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com.
Source: sfgate.com
Anthony Quemuel is such a big Manny Pacquiao fan that he dropped by a Pleasanton sporting goods store to buy the second pair of the boxer's special Nike "Pac Man" shoes that he's purchased this week.
"I need to have at least two pair because they're exclusive," said Quemuel, 29, of Union City. "When they came out, they sold out and you couldn't find them anywhere. The retail value was $110. They were going on the Internet for $225."
It's no surprise that the Philippine superstar with lightning-fast punches has such a strong following in the Bay Area, home to more than 356,000 Filipino Americans like Quemuel. But Pacquiao is becoming a household name, one of the rare sports stars with crossover appeal to even non-sports fans.
And although experts say he's not quite there, his appeal may translate into more marketing power for the man whom GQ magazine, in its April edition, calls a cross between Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara, Czech playwright Vaclav Havel, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, actor Sylvester Stallone, NFL quarterback Michael Vick and "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken.
"I definitely believe he's going to be a crossover star," said Marcus Troy, a Montreal blogger who writes about culture, lifestyle and fashion trends. "We haven't seen someone with his kind of charisma and skill in a long time."
Pacquiao, 31, has won world boxing titles in seven weight divisions and is ranked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Pacquiao's welterweight bout Saturday night against Joshua Clottey drew nearly 50,994 people to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the biggest U.S. boxing crowd in 17 years and third-largest in U.S. boxing history, even more remarkable because the sport's popularity has been waning.
But his popularity is transcending sports. Last year, Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people.
Earlier this month, Pacquiao received hearty cheers on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" even after crooning a less-than-stellar rendition of George Benson's "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You."
Nike gear
Featured displays of his line of Nike T-shirts, hoodies, shorts and shoes drew pre-fight crowds Saturday at stores like Niketown in downtown San Francisco and Champs Sports in Pleasanton's Stoneridge Shopping Center.
"What Nike is doing for him is giving him the spotlight, the platform," said Troy, who said the Nike line is also popular in places like Montreal and Toronto. "What I'm seeing with this Manny Pacquiao thing is that regular people who are fans of the man are buying his product. They like what he stands for."
Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert with San Francisco's Baker Street Advertising, said boxing hasn't seen a performer who has "captured the imagination of the casual fan in a long time."
"He's got more going for him than boxing," Dorfman said. "He appeals to both sexes. He's kind of a Renaissance man."
And at a time when the images of sports idols like Tiger Woods have been sullied by off-field transgressions, Pacquiao's image as a common-man-turned-champion remains clean.
"He's got a wonderful window of opportunity," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. But, he said, "the jury is out on whether he reaches that sort of iconic status."
Boxing is still not a top-tier sport in terms of popularity, and bouts are not frequent enough to hold the public's attention, he said. Olympic athletes, for whom the spotlight shines only once every four years, have a similar problem, unless they get creative and end up on "Dancing With the Stars" like gold medal skaters Apolo Anton Ohno or Evan Lysacek.
"Our world is built on 'What have you done for me lately?' " he said.
Mayweather bout
Dorfman said Pacquiao still needs a decisive win over six-time champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. A much-anticipated Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown is being held up by disputes over drug testing.
"That might put him over the hump in terms of making him a household name and face," Dorfman said.
Pacquiao's critics say his aspirations outside of the ring may also hold him back. Even with two platinum albums in the Philippines, his singing career suffered a setback this week when promoters canceled a "Manny Pacquiao Live in Hawaii Concert Celebration" scheduled for Sunday because of poor advance ticket sales.
And Pacquiao is again running in May for a seat in the Philippine Congress, even though his popularity hasn't translated to the polls - he lost a run for Congress in 2007.
Other major marketers may also be gun-shy about jumping on an athlete's coattails.
"Right now, advertisers are just so nervous about signing anybody to a big seven-figure deal again," Dorfman said. "After Tiger Woods, they don't know about anybody."
In good company
With his ring earnings and endorsements from Nike and San Miguel Beer, Manny Pacquiao was sixth on Forbes magazine's list of world's highest-paid athletes in 2009.
Tiger Woods was first with $110 million, but Pacquiao's $40 million tied him with NBA star LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson, and put him within $5 million of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, Formula One racer Kimi Raikkonen and soccer's David Beckham.
E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com.
Source: sfgate.com
Wladimir Klitschko: 'David Haye has a big mouth. He should shut it' -- The Independent
Independent.co.uk
"Louis or Schmeling? These two names beat upon your eardrums as steadily as the tom-toms of a Zulu tribe moving to a raid."
Grantland Rice, 1938
"On this day, two men will hold an entire world in the utmost tension."
'Der Angriff', the Nazi propaganda sheet run by Joseph Goebbels, 1938
"No single sporting event... had ever borne such worldwide weight. The fight implicated both the future of race relations and the prestige of two powerful nations. Each fighter was bearing on his shoulders more than any athlete ever had."
'Beyond Glory: Max Schmeling vs Joe Louis And a World on the Brink' by David Margolick
For Wladimir Klitschko, the thrillingly dramatic build-up to the second heavyweight fight between Max Schmeling and Joe Louis still reverberates 72 years later. Klitschko knows that his name, and that of Eddie Chambers, who tomorrow night in Düsseldorf will attempt to relieve him of his IBF, WBO and IBO world titles, are not beating on anyone's eardrums as steadily as tom-toms. And yet it is an intense source of pride to him that he is what Schmeling once was, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. When he climbs into the ring against Chambers determined to maintain that status, he will carry with him the memories of the Schmeling he knew. In Germany especially – where he used to live and where despite being Ukrainian he is something of a national hero – they are never far from his mind.
Klitschko and his older brother Vitali – currently the WBC heavyweight champion – first met Schmeling a decade ago, when Schmeling was 94, a beetle-browed old man made rich by his post-war Coca-Cola distributorship in northern Germany. They met at the Coca-Cola offices. Schmeling was impeccably dressed, in a suit and tie, and his mind was as precise as his attire.
"Meeting him I got goosebumps," Klitschko recalls. "He told us about his fights against Joe Louis [Schmeling won the first, in 1936, but lost the second], and how he had prepared on the ship going to the United States. He ate a lot of steak, and I'm the same. I sucked in the information he gave us. He was amazing. He told us that we should fight in the United States, as he had."
They followed this advice, indeed such was Schmeling's impact on the brothers, both fluent German speakers, that Vitali later paid the old man the compliment of naming his own son Max. Five years later they met him again. "He was 99, and it was not long before he died," Klitschko tells me. "Even then he was clear-minded. He knew all the news, and he remembered everything. He was a good man. In Nazi times he saved a Jewish family, and he helped Joe Louis through some bad times."
Actually, Schmeling did partly return Nazism's fond embrace; he was hardly a dissenter in the 1930s. But he did shelter two Jewish brothers on Kristallnacht, and he did later help his old opponent, which he could afford to do thanks to Coca-Cola, the iconic American brand which had conspicuously refused to touch the iconic, but black American, Louis.
"I've seen all the old photographs," Klitschko continues. "And when you think of all the hands he shook. He shook the hand of Hitler, of course. Hitler used him to show how strong Germany was. I thought about that when I first met him. That I was shaking the hand of history."
The hand of history, to extend the metaphor, has touched Klitschko in more ways than one. His father was a Soviet air force general whose last job before the Eastern Bloc crumbled was as military attaché in Bonn. Klitschko, 34 next week, was 15 in 1991, and I ask him what he remembers of the collapse of the Soviet Union; was it something he welcomed?
"I was just a witness. For my parents it was different, they had to move money from their bank account because the law didn't exist any more, nothing was functioning. The rouble had no value. In the 1990s in Ukraine it was like Chicago in the 1930s. There was a lot of crime. A lot of gangs."
A man of his height (6ft 6in) and width would have made a good criminal, I venture. We are sitting in a private members' club in Covent Garden during his stopover in London on the way to Germany. He eyes me with suspicion. "It is not about size. To wear a gun you don't need big biceps." No, but as an old-fashioned heavy? The ghost of a smile. "Yes."
Wondering how I came to suggest to this fiercely bright polyglot that he would have slotted right into the Ukrainian underworld, I attempt in rather cack-handed fashion to make amends. It's unusual, I say, to find a man with such a keen intellect making a living as a boxer.
"Who said that?" he says, sharply.
Erm, I did. I'm not talking about intelligence – nobody could question the intelligence of dozens of world champions, from Schmeling himself, through to Muhammad Ali, and Manny Pacquiao today – but Klitschko has a PhD from the University of Kiev, for heaven's sake, focusing on the "pedagogic control over young athletes in the old Soviet Union".
"I think you're wrong," he says, quietly. "Pythagoras, a great philosopher, was also a great boxer. And boxing has been a great part of Nelson Mandela's life." But doesn't he ever worry that too many blows to the head might damage his formidable brain? "That is a cliché," he says. "It is like saying all female tennis players are lesbians, all politicians are liars, all journalists you can buy."
I've never heard that last one, I say, and he obliges me with a mighty laugh. "In Ukraine you would know it," he says. We are friends again.
"Actually you are right," he adds. "Too many punches in the head will not make you any smarter, for sure. I try not to get punched in the head."
His record currently stands at 56 fights, 53 wins. Of those 53, 47 have been knockouts. Nobody doubts that he can punch. But there are lingering questions about the strength of his chin, and he is well aware of them. "I like these questions about my chin," he says, cheerfully. "I love them. Let people think what they want. And let them also think of the fighters with great chins. Samuel Peter has a great chin. He fought Vitali, and then he fought me [in 2005]. I was hitting him like crazy and he just shook his head and took all the punishment. I couldn't believe it. But eventually he went down. All the fighters with strong chins, eventually they go down."
The point is well-made, that a boxer needs the complete package: attack, defence, strong punch, solid chin. I invite him to delve into his impressive knowledge of boxing's past, and tell me who he considers to have been the most complete heavyweight ever to step into the ring?
"In certain ways Max Schmeling, in certain ways Jack Johnson. Also Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in certain ways. I respect all their accomplishments. But to be really great you also must be great outside the ring. Muhammad Ali spoke against the war in Vietnam, he supported the black movement. It is great that our sport has such a person."
The fighting Klitschkos are good for the sport too, bringing a degree of credibility to the heavyweight division in an era of unprecedented ordinariness. And even by the lacklustre standards of the age it is remarkable that two brothers should hold all the belts but one (the one possessed by David Haye, of whom more later). The demand that they should fight each other has recently increased in volume, with Lewis the latest to weigh in. "Brothers fight. Why not get paid for it?" Lewis has said.
Klitschko reckons he has a good enough answer. "Our mother wouldn't survive," he says. As it is, she never wanted either of them to become boxers, and nor did their father, the general. "Our parents were always completely against it," he adds. "But I started when I was 14 because I was following my brother [Vitali is almost five years older]. There was already a long tradition of boxing in the Soviet Union, but amateur, not professional. The collapse of the old regime changed all that."
The brothers went to a school specialising in sport – the marvellously-named Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Pedagogical Institute – and it was there that the younger Klitschko experienced at first hand what he would later study as a doctoral thesis, the state's baleful control over teenage athletes. "The training programmes were all wrong," he says. "It is an age when the body is changing all the time, and so is the mind, but the programme stayed the same. It broke people more talented than me."
Klitschko now lives mainly in Florida, where his Soviet upbringing must sometimes seem like a distant dream. "Life is fun," he says. "I love kite-surfing, and I love golf. My official handicap is 36. But my unofficial handicap is double that." Here, his manager interrupts, telling me that he actually plays to a handicap of about 17. But he claims 36? I accuse him of being that lowest of golfing animals, a bandit. A grin. "It is like I said with the chin. Let people think what they like."
He is also, unsurprisingly, an enthusiastic chess player. Is it fanciful to imagine that his skill at chess also helps him in the ring? "No, it does help," he exclaims. "Always, you are thinking several moves ahead, making plans. In the ring I use many things I have learnt in life. When I prepare for a fight, my plan is how to take my opponent apart. When it works out like that in the ring, I love that process. I have been helped very much by [trainer] Emanuel Steward, who is a genius, but we do all our creative work long before the fight. And he doesn't tell me what to do. He asks my opinion. I never had such a symbiosis with a coach."
Assuming this symbiosis leads to the beating of the relatively unfancied (and considerably shorter) Chambers in front of Klitschko's vociferous German fans tomorrow, only Haye will prevent a family monopoly of all the heavyweight belts. Both brothers are itching to fight him, but it is Wladimir who has come closest, in a contest scheduled for June last year that was called off when the "Hayemaker" hurt his back.
Before it was cancelled, however, Haye did his damnedest to wind up his opponent, and succeeded, by wearing a T-shirt bearing an image of himself holding up the severed heads of both brothers.
"That was extraordinary," says Klitschko. "It made me embarrassed for the sport. Showing the bloodied bodies of my family members? That is nothing to do with sport. David Haye has a big mouth. He compares himself to Evander Holyfield, but he went down against my former sparring partner, Monte Barrett. He says he's been sent to save the heavyweight division. He should just shut up." A big sigh. "My messa ge to David Haye is don't touch history," concludes the man who has shaken history's hand.
Brothers in arms
Wladimir Klitschko
Born 25 March 1976, Kazakhstan
Height 6ft 5in
Record 56 fights, 53 wins (47 KO)
Titles Gold at 1996 Olympics. IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight championship belts
Vitali Klitschko
Born 19 July 1971, Kyrgyzstan
Height 6ft 7in
Record 41 fights, 39 wins (37 KO)
Titles WBC Heavyweight Title
Source: independent.co.uk
"Louis or Schmeling? These two names beat upon your eardrums as steadily as the tom-toms of a Zulu tribe moving to a raid."
Grantland Rice, 1938
"On this day, two men will hold an entire world in the utmost tension."
'Der Angriff', the Nazi propaganda sheet run by Joseph Goebbels, 1938
"No single sporting event... had ever borne such worldwide weight. The fight implicated both the future of race relations and the prestige of two powerful nations. Each fighter was bearing on his shoulders more than any athlete ever had."
'Beyond Glory: Max Schmeling vs Joe Louis And a World on the Brink' by David Margolick
For Wladimir Klitschko, the thrillingly dramatic build-up to the second heavyweight fight between Max Schmeling and Joe Louis still reverberates 72 years later. Klitschko knows that his name, and that of Eddie Chambers, who tomorrow night in Düsseldorf will attempt to relieve him of his IBF, WBO and IBO world titles, are not beating on anyone's eardrums as steadily as tom-toms. And yet it is an intense source of pride to him that he is what Schmeling once was, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. When he climbs into the ring against Chambers determined to maintain that status, he will carry with him the memories of the Schmeling he knew. In Germany especially – where he used to live and where despite being Ukrainian he is something of a national hero – they are never far from his mind.
Klitschko and his older brother Vitali – currently the WBC heavyweight champion – first met Schmeling a decade ago, when Schmeling was 94, a beetle-browed old man made rich by his post-war Coca-Cola distributorship in northern Germany. They met at the Coca-Cola offices. Schmeling was impeccably dressed, in a suit and tie, and his mind was as precise as his attire.
"Meeting him I got goosebumps," Klitschko recalls. "He told us about his fights against Joe Louis [Schmeling won the first, in 1936, but lost the second], and how he had prepared on the ship going to the United States. He ate a lot of steak, and I'm the same. I sucked in the information he gave us. He was amazing. He told us that we should fight in the United States, as he had."
They followed this advice, indeed such was Schmeling's impact on the brothers, both fluent German speakers, that Vitali later paid the old man the compliment of naming his own son Max. Five years later they met him again. "He was 99, and it was not long before he died," Klitschko tells me. "Even then he was clear-minded. He knew all the news, and he remembered everything. He was a good man. In Nazi times he saved a Jewish family, and he helped Joe Louis through some bad times."
Actually, Schmeling did partly return Nazism's fond embrace; he was hardly a dissenter in the 1930s. But he did shelter two Jewish brothers on Kristallnacht, and he did later help his old opponent, which he could afford to do thanks to Coca-Cola, the iconic American brand which had conspicuously refused to touch the iconic, but black American, Louis.
"I've seen all the old photographs," Klitschko continues. "And when you think of all the hands he shook. He shook the hand of Hitler, of course. Hitler used him to show how strong Germany was. I thought about that when I first met him. That I was shaking the hand of history."
The hand of history, to extend the metaphor, has touched Klitschko in more ways than one. His father was a Soviet air force general whose last job before the Eastern Bloc crumbled was as military attaché in Bonn. Klitschko, 34 next week, was 15 in 1991, and I ask him what he remembers of the collapse of the Soviet Union; was it something he welcomed?
"I was just a witness. For my parents it was different, they had to move money from their bank account because the law didn't exist any more, nothing was functioning. The rouble had no value. In the 1990s in Ukraine it was like Chicago in the 1930s. There was a lot of crime. A lot of gangs."
A man of his height (6ft 6in) and width would have made a good criminal, I venture. We are sitting in a private members' club in Covent Garden during his stopover in London on the way to Germany. He eyes me with suspicion. "It is not about size. To wear a gun you don't need big biceps." No, but as an old-fashioned heavy? The ghost of a smile. "Yes."
Wondering how I came to suggest to this fiercely bright polyglot that he would have slotted right into the Ukrainian underworld, I attempt in rather cack-handed fashion to make amends. It's unusual, I say, to find a man with such a keen intellect making a living as a boxer.
"Who said that?" he says, sharply.
Erm, I did. I'm not talking about intelligence – nobody could question the intelligence of dozens of world champions, from Schmeling himself, through to Muhammad Ali, and Manny Pacquiao today – but Klitschko has a PhD from the University of Kiev, for heaven's sake, focusing on the "pedagogic control over young athletes in the old Soviet Union".
"I think you're wrong," he says, quietly. "Pythagoras, a great philosopher, was also a great boxer. And boxing has been a great part of Nelson Mandela's life." But doesn't he ever worry that too many blows to the head might damage his formidable brain? "That is a cliché," he says. "It is like saying all female tennis players are lesbians, all politicians are liars, all journalists you can buy."
I've never heard that last one, I say, and he obliges me with a mighty laugh. "In Ukraine you would know it," he says. We are friends again.
"Actually you are right," he adds. "Too many punches in the head will not make you any smarter, for sure. I try not to get punched in the head."
His record currently stands at 56 fights, 53 wins. Of those 53, 47 have been knockouts. Nobody doubts that he can punch. But there are lingering questions about the strength of his chin, and he is well aware of them. "I like these questions about my chin," he says, cheerfully. "I love them. Let people think what they want. And let them also think of the fighters with great chins. Samuel Peter has a great chin. He fought Vitali, and then he fought me [in 2005]. I was hitting him like crazy and he just shook his head and took all the punishment. I couldn't believe it. But eventually he went down. All the fighters with strong chins, eventually they go down."
The point is well-made, that a boxer needs the complete package: attack, defence, strong punch, solid chin. I invite him to delve into his impressive knowledge of boxing's past, and tell me who he considers to have been the most complete heavyweight ever to step into the ring?
"In certain ways Max Schmeling, in certain ways Jack Johnson. Also Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in certain ways. I respect all their accomplishments. But to be really great you also must be great outside the ring. Muhammad Ali spoke against the war in Vietnam, he supported the black movement. It is great that our sport has such a person."
The fighting Klitschkos are good for the sport too, bringing a degree of credibility to the heavyweight division in an era of unprecedented ordinariness. And even by the lacklustre standards of the age it is remarkable that two brothers should hold all the belts but one (the one possessed by David Haye, of whom more later). The demand that they should fight each other has recently increased in volume, with Lewis the latest to weigh in. "Brothers fight. Why not get paid for it?" Lewis has said.
Klitschko reckons he has a good enough answer. "Our mother wouldn't survive," he says. As it is, she never wanted either of them to become boxers, and nor did their father, the general. "Our parents were always completely against it," he adds. "But I started when I was 14 because I was following my brother [Vitali is almost five years older]. There was already a long tradition of boxing in the Soviet Union, but amateur, not professional. The collapse of the old regime changed all that."
The brothers went to a school specialising in sport – the marvellously-named Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Pedagogical Institute – and it was there that the younger Klitschko experienced at first hand what he would later study as a doctoral thesis, the state's baleful control over teenage athletes. "The training programmes were all wrong," he says. "It is an age when the body is changing all the time, and so is the mind, but the programme stayed the same. It broke people more talented than me."
Klitschko now lives mainly in Florida, where his Soviet upbringing must sometimes seem like a distant dream. "Life is fun," he says. "I love kite-surfing, and I love golf. My official handicap is 36. But my unofficial handicap is double that." Here, his manager interrupts, telling me that he actually plays to a handicap of about 17. But he claims 36? I accuse him of being that lowest of golfing animals, a bandit. A grin. "It is like I said with the chin. Let people think what they like."
He is also, unsurprisingly, an enthusiastic chess player. Is it fanciful to imagine that his skill at chess also helps him in the ring? "No, it does help," he exclaims. "Always, you are thinking several moves ahead, making plans. In the ring I use many things I have learnt in life. When I prepare for a fight, my plan is how to take my opponent apart. When it works out like that in the ring, I love that process. I have been helped very much by [trainer] Emanuel Steward, who is a genius, but we do all our creative work long before the fight. And he doesn't tell me what to do. He asks my opinion. I never had such a symbiosis with a coach."
Assuming this symbiosis leads to the beating of the relatively unfancied (and considerably shorter) Chambers in front of Klitschko's vociferous German fans tomorrow, only Haye will prevent a family monopoly of all the heavyweight belts. Both brothers are itching to fight him, but it is Wladimir who has come closest, in a contest scheduled for June last year that was called off when the "Hayemaker" hurt his back.
Before it was cancelled, however, Haye did his damnedest to wind up his opponent, and succeeded, by wearing a T-shirt bearing an image of himself holding up the severed heads of both brothers.
"That was extraordinary," says Klitschko. "It made me embarrassed for the sport. Showing the bloodied bodies of my family members? That is nothing to do with sport. David Haye has a big mouth. He compares himself to Evander Holyfield, but he went down against my former sparring partner, Monte Barrett. He says he's been sent to save the heavyweight division. He should just shut up." A big sigh. "My messa ge to David Haye is don't touch history," concludes the man who has shaken history's hand.
Brothers in arms
Wladimir Klitschko
Born 25 March 1976, Kazakhstan
Height 6ft 5in
Record 56 fights, 53 wins (47 KO)
Titles Gold at 1996 Olympics. IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight championship belts
Vitali Klitschko
Born 19 July 1971, Kyrgyzstan
Height 6ft 7in
Record 41 fights, 39 wins (37 KO)
Titles WBC Heavyweight Title
Source: independent.co.uk
Substance or Abuse: Mayweather/Mosley agree to testing, why should Pacquiao? -- The Examiner
By Vivek Wallace, Examiner.com
It was reported today by the Associated Press that the Olympic styled drug-testing protocol discussed between American welterweights Floyd Mayweather jr. and Shane Mosley are now official, as the two parties completed the arrangement via conference call with Travis Tygart of the U.S Anti-Doping Agency.
In an era of sports where athletes have gone to all lengths to gain an unfair edge, many have wondered why the implementation of better substance testing has taken so long to find the sport of boxing.
Not only is the current testing protocol in boxing the worst of all, but it remains the only sport where certain states (i.e. Texas) are allowed to do go without the testing process all together, not even requiring combatants to give urine samples in the bottle.
Back in 2007, ESPN's Kevin Mulvaney had a panel of highly valued personnel discuss this very topic, pointing out several things that an average fight fan simply couldn't relate to, which helps explain the confusion relative to the outcome of the Mayweather/Pacquiao blowout.
On this panel was Dr. Margaret Goodman (Chairman of the medical advisory board for Nevada State Athletic Commission), Richard Pound (Chairman of World Athletic Doping Agency), Mark Fainaru-Wada (San Francisco Chronicle), and Flip Homansky (former ringside physician and former Nevada State Athletic Commissioner).
Each of the members of the panel made statements at various points in the discussion that seemed to hold quite a bit of weight, as it relates to understanding not only the problem between Mayweather and Pacquiao, but also the subsequent blowout between the two camps. .
Dr. Flip Homansky gave what could be viewed as more of a preventive method, stating that "if boxing wants to get serious, when people apply for a license in a state, or when people sign for a fight, the state where the fight is going to be could insist on part of the language in the contract stating that they can be tested at any time."
Mark Fainaru-Wada gave a notable contribution in speaking on the need for randomized testing, stating that "Knowledge is half the deal. If you know when you're going to be tested, that kind of defeats the purpose", while Richard Pound of WADA agreed in unison.
As compelling as both those statements were, in hindsight, the most intriguing comments of them all were made by Dr. Margaret Goodman, who revealed that "It's not the big heavyweights that are testing positive, it's the smaller weights. And there's always been this perception that they're used to put on bulk, whereas in reality they're used by athletes so they can train more. They reduce the time they have to take off if they have a small injury".
Once upon a time, these banned substances were only linked to bigger men, but through greater awareness, we now learn the beneficial properties contained for smaller linked fighters like Shane Mosley, as well. This truth also shines light on the thought process going into allegations directed towards Filipino Manny Pacquiao.
Now....this knowledge in no way, shape, or form, serves as no indictment on the Filipino. That being said, when you consider the three men at the center of this topic, it becomes much easier to narrow the scope of what's really going on here - as it relates to their individual decision to test or not to test.
In the case of Mosley, having been linked to banned substances in the past, it would be catastrophic of him to refuse the option. In the case of Mayweather, you have a fighter who placed a demand on one opponent, yet no others, so to prevent the tag of hypocrisy, he would need to follow it with the same demand on all future opponents whether his intent be real or ill. In the case of Pacquiao, things are a bit harder to dissect. The norm is innocent until proven guilty, but a refusal to take part in testing creates arguable flaws leading to probable cause - (in the minds of those who now think guilty until proven innocent).
Until the state athletic commissions get serious about implementing these test, Mayweather/Mosley will be about substance abuse, while the Mayweather/Pacquiao issue will remain allegation 'abuse', containing little substance.
Not quite sure I understand why anyone would not agree to an effort that would help clean up the sport, but until it becomes a norm.....why should he?
I can think of a million reasons why, but before we tear down Pacquiao any more than we have, answer this other critical question first......why haven't the powers-that-be made this a standard for all fighters to begin with?
Hopefully this money driven sport can provide a million dollar answer to this billion dollar question.
Stay tuned.
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, YouTube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEK747), Facebook, and Myspace).
Source: examiner.com
It was reported today by the Associated Press that the Olympic styled drug-testing protocol discussed between American welterweights Floyd Mayweather jr. and Shane Mosley are now official, as the two parties completed the arrangement via conference call with Travis Tygart of the U.S Anti-Doping Agency.
In an era of sports where athletes have gone to all lengths to gain an unfair edge, many have wondered why the implementation of better substance testing has taken so long to find the sport of boxing.
Not only is the current testing protocol in boxing the worst of all, but it remains the only sport where certain states (i.e. Texas) are allowed to do go without the testing process all together, not even requiring combatants to give urine samples in the bottle.
Back in 2007, ESPN's Kevin Mulvaney had a panel of highly valued personnel discuss this very topic, pointing out several things that an average fight fan simply couldn't relate to, which helps explain the confusion relative to the outcome of the Mayweather/Pacquiao blowout.
On this panel was Dr. Margaret Goodman (Chairman of the medical advisory board for Nevada State Athletic Commission), Richard Pound (Chairman of World Athletic Doping Agency), Mark Fainaru-Wada (San Francisco Chronicle), and Flip Homansky (former ringside physician and former Nevada State Athletic Commissioner).
Each of the members of the panel made statements at various points in the discussion that seemed to hold quite a bit of weight, as it relates to understanding not only the problem between Mayweather and Pacquiao, but also the subsequent blowout between the two camps. .
Dr. Flip Homansky gave what could be viewed as more of a preventive method, stating that "if boxing wants to get serious, when people apply for a license in a state, or when people sign for a fight, the state where the fight is going to be could insist on part of the language in the contract stating that they can be tested at any time."
Mark Fainaru-Wada gave a notable contribution in speaking on the need for randomized testing, stating that "Knowledge is half the deal. If you know when you're going to be tested, that kind of defeats the purpose", while Richard Pound of WADA agreed in unison.
As compelling as both those statements were, in hindsight, the most intriguing comments of them all were made by Dr. Margaret Goodman, who revealed that "It's not the big heavyweights that are testing positive, it's the smaller weights. And there's always been this perception that they're used to put on bulk, whereas in reality they're used by athletes so they can train more. They reduce the time they have to take off if they have a small injury".
Once upon a time, these banned substances were only linked to bigger men, but through greater awareness, we now learn the beneficial properties contained for smaller linked fighters like Shane Mosley, as well. This truth also shines light on the thought process going into allegations directed towards Filipino Manny Pacquiao.
Now....this knowledge in no way, shape, or form, serves as no indictment on the Filipino. That being said, when you consider the three men at the center of this topic, it becomes much easier to narrow the scope of what's really going on here - as it relates to their individual decision to test or not to test.
In the case of Mosley, having been linked to banned substances in the past, it would be catastrophic of him to refuse the option. In the case of Mayweather, you have a fighter who placed a demand on one opponent, yet no others, so to prevent the tag of hypocrisy, he would need to follow it with the same demand on all future opponents whether his intent be real or ill. In the case of Pacquiao, things are a bit harder to dissect. The norm is innocent until proven guilty, but a refusal to take part in testing creates arguable flaws leading to probable cause - (in the minds of those who now think guilty until proven innocent).
Until the state athletic commissions get serious about implementing these test, Mayweather/Mosley will be about substance abuse, while the Mayweather/Pacquiao issue will remain allegation 'abuse', containing little substance.
Not quite sure I understand why anyone would not agree to an effort that would help clean up the sport, but until it becomes a norm.....why should he?
I can think of a million reasons why, but before we tear down Pacquiao any more than we have, answer this other critical question first......why haven't the powers-that-be made this a standard for all fighters to begin with?
Hopefully this money driven sport can provide a million dollar answer to this billion dollar question.
Stay tuned.
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, YouTube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEK747), Facebook, and Myspace).
Source: examiner.com
Floyd Mayweather Sr.: With steroids, Pacquiao has no chance against my son -- The Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
What is rare as a March day in Manhattan when the temperature flirts with the 70 degree mark?
It was so balmy Thursday I thought of taking a dip at Coney Island but my new Speedo has yet to arrive...It's the Breakway Model, women breakway when they see it...
But I digress, I asked how rare this unseasonal weather is so let me compare it to...to...to...
(I'm like Madam Auring when it comes to seaside fashion, I also believe when you've got it, flaunt it...)
Dare I say it, a week in which your humble correspondent, with so much to be humble about, gets to chat with the two leading Manny Pacquiao critics, Popgun Paulie Malignaggi--or "Lady Gago" as some Pinoy haters who hate haters call him--and then to duly record the always enjoyable rants of Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Let Richie Rich Schaefer claim he and and his family were out dining at Dan Tana's or some other Los Angeles boite.
Let Laughing Lenny Ellerbe claim that he and L'il Floyd were tied up on a HBO commercial shoot in La La.
They claim they did not see Pacman slap reluctant Joshing Clottey from pillar post before 51,000 mostly appreciative fans in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Saturday night.
Papa Mayweather, he doesn't tell such tales.
He watched that fight on HBO PPV with the intensity of Siskel & Ebert getting their first look at a major motion picture.
I guess others in the Extended Mayweather Family can't critique Pacman and "Joke Coach" Roach but Floyd Sr., God love him, is never shy.
Ask for opinions, they roll and sometimes trip but they do come off his babbling brook of a mouth.
And they come, Jim Lampley style, bang, bang, bang like so:
ON CLOTTEY'S EFFORT: "That was not a good fight, Clottey and the other guy...What's His Name, you know who I mean...After the fight, the only one talking spit about my son was the old Joke Coach, Freddie Roach. Pacquiao wanted to talk about fighting Shane Mosley. It was obvious that Pacquiao was fighting a guy with no skill. "
ON CLOTTEY'S SPORADIC OFFENSE: "This Clottey was an embarrassment to himself, to his country (Ghana) and to boxing. In the old days, they would've made him fight or not get paid. They would have told him, 'You fight or you don't get paid.' Still, he connected some good punches and Pacquiao did not stagger so he didn't follow up. I am not stupid, I am not a crazy man, I know what I'm looking at."
ON SPEAKING OUT ON PACQUIAO: "I am entitled to speak on what I think, on my opinion. I will say this, if Pacquiao is using those roids, it won't help him against my son. I got a poem on that and it goes, 'Roids don't mean spit if you can't hit.' And Pacquiao will never hit my son if they fight."
ON CLOTTEY NOT MUSCLING MANNY: "Here is this big, strong guy and he is just laying on the ropes, covering up. He was big enough to take all them punches but he couldn't throw any?
ON PACMAN'S WORK RATE, THROWING OVER 100 PUNCHES PER ROUND: "Who ever did that in boxing? My son never did that because he is a counterpuncher, an accurate puncher who makes every punch count. Pacquiao missed most of his punches with the guy right in front of him, like some robot. That's why Freddie Roach wants to fight Mosley but my son will beat him."
ON PROMOTER BOB ARUM: "I keep hearing that Arum does not want my son to fight Pacquiao. I don't know for sure that it is true but that's the word going around you know. That's my understanding, somebody said there was some newspaper article but I didn't see it."
ON MANNY BEING AFRAID OF FIGHTING L'IL FLOYD: "Look how they wanted the weight clause and asked for a $10 million per pound penalty. My son gave it to them and they still turned down the fight. Now what does that tell you?"
ON HELPING L'IL FLOYD PREP FOR SUGAR SHANE ON MAY 1: "I am in the mix with other fighters over here at Johnny Tocco's Gym but I will work with my son. I will help him whether he puts me in his corner on fight night or not, that don't matter. (On working with Uncle Roger) "I don't have to get along with Roger because that is my son, not his son. That is my kid. If Roger can't handle that, he can get his ass out of the gym because I am going to help my son out, that's all."
Rat, tat, tat and bang, bang, bang.
Floyd Sr. zips his lip for nobody.
Shouldn't he be Malignaggi's trainer, lol?
Paging Dr. Larry, Dr. Curley, Dr. Moe...this was a wonderful week for Pactrashing, was it not?
Next on the White Gorilla Show: Hating haters who hate, hate, hate.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
What is rare as a March day in Manhattan when the temperature flirts with the 70 degree mark?
It was so balmy Thursday I thought of taking a dip at Coney Island but my new Speedo has yet to arrive...It's the Breakway Model, women breakway when they see it...
But I digress, I asked how rare this unseasonal weather is so let me compare it to...to...to...
(I'm like Madam Auring when it comes to seaside fashion, I also believe when you've got it, flaunt it...)
Dare I say it, a week in which your humble correspondent, with so much to be humble about, gets to chat with the two leading Manny Pacquiao critics, Popgun Paulie Malignaggi--or "Lady Gago" as some Pinoy haters who hate haters call him--and then to duly record the always enjoyable rants of Floyd Mayweather Sr.
Let Richie Rich Schaefer claim he and and his family were out dining at Dan Tana's or some other Los Angeles boite.
Let Laughing Lenny Ellerbe claim that he and L'il Floyd were tied up on a HBO commercial shoot in La La.
They claim they did not see Pacman slap reluctant Joshing Clottey from pillar post before 51,000 mostly appreciative fans in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Saturday night.
Papa Mayweather, he doesn't tell such tales.
He watched that fight on HBO PPV with the intensity of Siskel & Ebert getting their first look at a major motion picture.
I guess others in the Extended Mayweather Family can't critique Pacman and "Joke Coach" Roach but Floyd Sr., God love him, is never shy.
Ask for opinions, they roll and sometimes trip but they do come off his babbling brook of a mouth.
And they come, Jim Lampley style, bang, bang, bang like so:
ON CLOTTEY'S EFFORT: "That was not a good fight, Clottey and the other guy...What's His Name, you know who I mean...After the fight, the only one talking spit about my son was the old Joke Coach, Freddie Roach. Pacquiao wanted to talk about fighting Shane Mosley. It was obvious that Pacquiao was fighting a guy with no skill. "
ON CLOTTEY'S SPORADIC OFFENSE: "This Clottey was an embarrassment to himself, to his country (Ghana) and to boxing. In the old days, they would've made him fight or not get paid. They would have told him, 'You fight or you don't get paid.' Still, he connected some good punches and Pacquiao did not stagger so he didn't follow up. I am not stupid, I am not a crazy man, I know what I'm looking at."
ON SPEAKING OUT ON PACQUIAO: "I am entitled to speak on what I think, on my opinion. I will say this, if Pacquiao is using those roids, it won't help him against my son. I got a poem on that and it goes, 'Roids don't mean spit if you can't hit.' And Pacquiao will never hit my son if they fight."
ON CLOTTEY NOT MUSCLING MANNY: "Here is this big, strong guy and he is just laying on the ropes, covering up. He was big enough to take all them punches but he couldn't throw any?
ON PACMAN'S WORK RATE, THROWING OVER 100 PUNCHES PER ROUND: "Who ever did that in boxing? My son never did that because he is a counterpuncher, an accurate puncher who makes every punch count. Pacquiao missed most of his punches with the guy right in front of him, like some robot. That's why Freddie Roach wants to fight Mosley but my son will beat him."
ON PROMOTER BOB ARUM: "I keep hearing that Arum does not want my son to fight Pacquiao. I don't know for sure that it is true but that's the word going around you know. That's my understanding, somebody said there was some newspaper article but I didn't see it."
ON MANNY BEING AFRAID OF FIGHTING L'IL FLOYD: "Look how they wanted the weight clause and asked for a $10 million per pound penalty. My son gave it to them and they still turned down the fight. Now what does that tell you?"
ON HELPING L'IL FLOYD PREP FOR SUGAR SHANE ON MAY 1: "I am in the mix with other fighters over here at Johnny Tocco's Gym but I will work with my son. I will help him whether he puts me in his corner on fight night or not, that don't matter. (On working with Uncle Roger) "I don't have to get along with Roger because that is my son, not his son. That is my kid. If Roger can't handle that, he can get his ass out of the gym because I am going to help my son out, that's all."
Rat, tat, tat and bang, bang, bang.
Floyd Sr. zips his lip for nobody.
Shouldn't he be Malignaggi's trainer, lol?
Paging Dr. Larry, Dr. Curley, Dr. Moe...this was a wonderful week for Pactrashing, was it not?
Next on the White Gorilla Show: Hating haters who hate, hate, hate.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Mayweather & Mosley agree on random drug testing -- BBC Sport
BBC Sport
Floyd Mayweather Jr and Shane Mosley have agreed to undergo Olympic-style drug testing for their 1 May fight.
Mayweather and Mosley met with officials from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last weekend to agree on a testing programme.
The programme will include random blood tests before and after the fights.
Mayweather's proposed fight with Manny Pacquiao collapsed in January after Pacquiao refused to yield to his rival's demands for random testing.
The USADA testing involves the collection of athletes' blood and urine prior to and after the fight, with no advance warning.
"I just want to show the world that boxing is a clean sport and it is my hope that all fighters will take a similar stance," said Mayweather, who will be challenging for Mosley's WBA welterweight crown in Las Vegas.
"I think the testing programme is a great idea and I did not hesitate for a minute about agreeing to it," said Mosley, who has admitted to inadvertently using steroids before a fight with Oscar de la Hoya in 2003.
"I believe today is another watershed moment in the advancement of anti-doping," said USADA chief Travis Tygart.
"For the first time, we're seeing professional athletes in the sport of boxing approach us to implement our programme, and take ownership for the integrity of their sport.
"This is courageous action and we are proud to be a part of this effort to help further advance the rights of clean athletes to participate in a safe, level and drug-free arena."
Testing in boxing usually falls under the jurisdiction of state athletic commissions, and in most cases is limited to urine testing.
Philippine legend Pacquiao would not agree to blood-testing in the 30 days prior to his proposed fight with Mayweather.
He also stipulated that he would agree to testing by the same agencies that test pro American Football and baseball players, but not to random tests by the USADA.
Five-weight world champion Pacquiao has fought in Las Vegas on numerous occasions and never failed a drug test.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
***
Floyd Mayweather Jr and Shane Mosley have agreed to undergo Olympic-style drug testing for their 1 May fight.
Mayweather and Mosley met with officials from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last weekend to agree on a testing programme.
The programme will include random blood tests before and after the fights.
Mayweather's proposed fight with Manny Pacquiao collapsed in January after Pacquiao refused to yield to his rival's demands for random testing.
The USADA testing involves the collection of athletes' blood and urine prior to and after the fight, with no advance warning.
"I just want to show the world that boxing is a clean sport and it is my hope that all fighters will take a similar stance," said Mayweather, who will be challenging for Mosley's WBA welterweight crown in Las Vegas.
"I think the testing programme is a great idea and I did not hesitate for a minute about agreeing to it," said Mosley, who has admitted to inadvertently using steroids before a fight with Oscar de la Hoya in 2003.
"I believe today is another watershed moment in the advancement of anti-doping," said USADA chief Travis Tygart.
"For the first time, we're seeing professional athletes in the sport of boxing approach us to implement our programme, and take ownership for the integrity of their sport.
"This is courageous action and we are proud to be a part of this effort to help further advance the rights of clean athletes to participate in a safe, level and drug-free arena."
Testing in boxing usually falls under the jurisdiction of state athletic commissions, and in most cases is limited to urine testing.
Philippine legend Pacquiao would not agree to blood-testing in the 30 days prior to his proposed fight with Mayweather.
He also stipulated that he would agree to testing by the same agencies that test pro American Football and baseball players, but not to random tests by the USADA.
Five-weight world champion Pacquiao has fought in Las Vegas on numerous occasions and never failed a drug test.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
***
The Fighter Who Beats Manny Pacquiao Can't Be Manufactured, Part II -- The Sweet Science
By Frank Lotierzo, The Sweet Science
As much as it hurts to agree with HBO's Jim Lampley, he must be given his due when he gets it right. And he did so when he said on the network's pre-fight special "Countdown To Pacquiao-Clottey," something to the effect of how it's been a while since we've seen a fighter who's had a run of outstanding performances like we've seen from Manny Pacquiao circa 2008-2010.
It's amazing how there are still some doubters. Forget about who's a worshiper of one fighter and a hater of another. If anyone reading this can't recognize that Manny Pacquiao is a rare and once in a generation talent and fighter, you don't know what you're watching. My opinion of Pacquiao is based on lengthy personal experience and objective eyes that are wide open while watching him fight, and a boxing aptitude that rarely fails me when evaluating fighters. I'm not paid or part of Team Pacquiao or Team Anybody. I implicitly trust my eyes and instincts tell me all I need to know. And what they scream out is that it'll take a special fighter and talent to beat Manny Pacquiao at this time if he stays hungry and focused and isn't distracted by his political ambition.
The fighter to beat Pacquiao will either have to be a Thomas Hearns clone and how many of them are fighting today? Or have the mental toughness, chin, strength and enough punch to force Pacquiao back and to fight off the ropes, something that not many guys have been able to force him to do, and where he's the least effective. Because if you allow him to come to you and have nothing in your arsenal to hold him off with, it's almost impossible to out-box him. And if you have to fight him as he dictates, good luck because that's him at his best.
If there were a Hearns fighting in the welterweight division today, Pacquiao would probably meet his Waterloo. Hearns had enough beard to handle Pacquiao, if Manny could even get to it. Pacquiao would be there for Hearns's ramrod jab and missile like right hand, something that would greatly impede his aggression. As unique as Pacquiao is, he's never experienced anything like Hearns. He'd be at the end of the Hitman's reach and he'd never get a chance to befuddle him with his unconventional and sporadic assault. And it's not like Pacquiao is hard to find since he has the mindset to attack and try to get his opponent out with every punch he throws. If Manny gets hurt, his instinct is always going to be to fire back. He's even shown a willingness to take a few from his opponent if that's what it takes to open them up. Only that would've been suicide against Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard as well.
For a fighter in the welterweight division in 2010 to beat Pacquiao, he must posses something in his arsenal that concerns him or forces him to have to react and address what they're doing as much as his opponent is concerned with what he's doing. As far as devising a strategy to beat Pacquiao on paper, that's great. Now try and find the fighter who has what it takes mentally and physically to implement the ideal fight plan. That's like saying if you make Marvin Hagler fight as the aggressor and force him to cut the ring off, (which wasn't him at his best) he's beatable. Great, all you have to do now is find the next Sugar Ray Leonard.
At this point it seems like it's almost impossible to fathom any active welterweight beating Pacquiao by out-boxing him. He's just too overwhelming and attacks and throws every punch with the purpose of taking his opponent's head off nor does he fear what's coming back at him. And he also throws his punches in multiples. In order to box Pacquiao, you must be physically strong and have a decent enough punch to prevent him from coming at you as if you're handcuffed, thus allowing him to make it a street fight.
Is Floyd Mayweather that boxer? At this point I'm not sure and hope that we find out sometime this fall if he gets by Shane Mosley on May 1st. One thing is certain, Mayweather doesn't posses a single punch or combination in his repertoire to hurt or discourage Pacquiao from coming at him full bore. The speculation about that is over and Mayweather will at some point have to fight Manny off and gain his respect if they ever do meet. So he'll probably need a backup plan in which he's able to tie him in a knot and slowly take the bullets out of his guns. Picturing Mayweather and perhaps Mosley actually beating up Pacquiao is hard to envision in 2010.
Mosley probably has the better chance to do it, but he'd absorb plenty of punishment in the process. Although, Pacquiao-Mosley is the best and most exciting fight that could be realized from a style vantage point at this time if Mosley is the same fighter who took apart Antonio Margarito in January of 2009.
If Mosley beats Mayweather, Shane actually matches up better with Pacquiao because he probably has the physical strength to force Pacquiao back and perhaps keep him on his heels, something that would aid him in a big way. Pacquiao has never had to fight uphill since he's moved up from junior lightweight. Mosley has a great chin, fast hands and is capable of throwing straight lefts and rights. He's also mentally and physically tough and can't be intimidated or made to fight just to survive. Mosley also has never been handled by any fighter his size, including Miguel Cotto. Actually, Cotto was smart to counter-punch Mosley instead of engaging Shane like he wanted him too. Pacquiao is of a different mindset and will engage Mosley because that's what he does best.
Other than Mayweather and Mosley, there's no other welterweight who comes close to having a chance to beat Pacquiao. (EDITOR NOTE: What if Paul Williams could make 147?) Mayweather may lack the strength and physicality, and Mosley may no longer posses the speed and probably has participated in too many tough fights during his career to win a war of attrition in 2010.
To beat Pacquiao this year it'll take a fighter who was blessed at birth with the necessary skill and tools to do it. He can't be manufactured or trained to do so in any boxing gym by any great trainer, the few that are still around. The fighter to do it will either need the size and power to discourage Manny from trying to attack, or he'll need the mental toughness, strength and gumption to force him to back off and be in the unfamiliar position of him having to fight his opponent off of him instead of the opposite.
Having a great boxing IQ and aptitude is great, but if you're not physically capable of executing your fight plan, it's all for naught and the best plan in the world will implode from overwhelming pressure. So you can get all the cookbook handicappers you want to devise the plan that fits your perfect boxing world. But applying it in the ring is like having a gun in your car during a bar fight. Only the gun isn't gonna do you any good under the front seat of the car, so you don't really have a gun.
Manny Pacquiao is putting together a helluva a resume. And since he's moved up in weight his punch activity has escalated. And that's because the bigger fighters he's confronted are more awed by his speed and unorthodox attack, which induces them to punch less so they're not as wide open, which in turn affords him the opportunity to get off more and dictate the terms of the fight. Like all greats, it'll take another great to beat him while he's at his peak. It took a Duran to beat Leonard, a Leonard to beat Hearns and a Frazier to beat Ali.
Looking back, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez were all great fighters between 126 and 130, weren't they?
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
Source: thesweetscience.com
As much as it hurts to agree with HBO's Jim Lampley, he must be given his due when he gets it right. And he did so when he said on the network's pre-fight special "Countdown To Pacquiao-Clottey," something to the effect of how it's been a while since we've seen a fighter who's had a run of outstanding performances like we've seen from Manny Pacquiao circa 2008-2010.
It's amazing how there are still some doubters. Forget about who's a worshiper of one fighter and a hater of another. If anyone reading this can't recognize that Manny Pacquiao is a rare and once in a generation talent and fighter, you don't know what you're watching. My opinion of Pacquiao is based on lengthy personal experience and objective eyes that are wide open while watching him fight, and a boxing aptitude that rarely fails me when evaluating fighters. I'm not paid or part of Team Pacquiao or Team Anybody. I implicitly trust my eyes and instincts tell me all I need to know. And what they scream out is that it'll take a special fighter and talent to beat Manny Pacquiao at this time if he stays hungry and focused and isn't distracted by his political ambition.
The fighter to beat Pacquiao will either have to be a Thomas Hearns clone and how many of them are fighting today? Or have the mental toughness, chin, strength and enough punch to force Pacquiao back and to fight off the ropes, something that not many guys have been able to force him to do, and where he's the least effective. Because if you allow him to come to you and have nothing in your arsenal to hold him off with, it's almost impossible to out-box him. And if you have to fight him as he dictates, good luck because that's him at his best.
If there were a Hearns fighting in the welterweight division today, Pacquiao would probably meet his Waterloo. Hearns had enough beard to handle Pacquiao, if Manny could even get to it. Pacquiao would be there for Hearns's ramrod jab and missile like right hand, something that would greatly impede his aggression. As unique as Pacquiao is, he's never experienced anything like Hearns. He'd be at the end of the Hitman's reach and he'd never get a chance to befuddle him with his unconventional and sporadic assault. And it's not like Pacquiao is hard to find since he has the mindset to attack and try to get his opponent out with every punch he throws. If Manny gets hurt, his instinct is always going to be to fire back. He's even shown a willingness to take a few from his opponent if that's what it takes to open them up. Only that would've been suicide against Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard as well.
For a fighter in the welterweight division in 2010 to beat Pacquiao, he must posses something in his arsenal that concerns him or forces him to have to react and address what they're doing as much as his opponent is concerned with what he's doing. As far as devising a strategy to beat Pacquiao on paper, that's great. Now try and find the fighter who has what it takes mentally and physically to implement the ideal fight plan. That's like saying if you make Marvin Hagler fight as the aggressor and force him to cut the ring off, (which wasn't him at his best) he's beatable. Great, all you have to do now is find the next Sugar Ray Leonard.
At this point it seems like it's almost impossible to fathom any active welterweight beating Pacquiao by out-boxing him. He's just too overwhelming and attacks and throws every punch with the purpose of taking his opponent's head off nor does he fear what's coming back at him. And he also throws his punches in multiples. In order to box Pacquiao, you must be physically strong and have a decent enough punch to prevent him from coming at you as if you're handcuffed, thus allowing him to make it a street fight.
Is Floyd Mayweather that boxer? At this point I'm not sure and hope that we find out sometime this fall if he gets by Shane Mosley on May 1st. One thing is certain, Mayweather doesn't posses a single punch or combination in his repertoire to hurt or discourage Pacquiao from coming at him full bore. The speculation about that is over and Mayweather will at some point have to fight Manny off and gain his respect if they ever do meet. So he'll probably need a backup plan in which he's able to tie him in a knot and slowly take the bullets out of his guns. Picturing Mayweather and perhaps Mosley actually beating up Pacquiao is hard to envision in 2010.
Mosley probably has the better chance to do it, but he'd absorb plenty of punishment in the process. Although, Pacquiao-Mosley is the best and most exciting fight that could be realized from a style vantage point at this time if Mosley is the same fighter who took apart Antonio Margarito in January of 2009.
If Mosley beats Mayweather, Shane actually matches up better with Pacquiao because he probably has the physical strength to force Pacquiao back and perhaps keep him on his heels, something that would aid him in a big way. Pacquiao has never had to fight uphill since he's moved up from junior lightweight. Mosley has a great chin, fast hands and is capable of throwing straight lefts and rights. He's also mentally and physically tough and can't be intimidated or made to fight just to survive. Mosley also has never been handled by any fighter his size, including Miguel Cotto. Actually, Cotto was smart to counter-punch Mosley instead of engaging Shane like he wanted him too. Pacquiao is of a different mindset and will engage Mosley because that's what he does best.
Other than Mayweather and Mosley, there's no other welterweight who comes close to having a chance to beat Pacquiao. (EDITOR NOTE: What if Paul Williams could make 147?) Mayweather may lack the strength and physicality, and Mosley may no longer posses the speed and probably has participated in too many tough fights during his career to win a war of attrition in 2010.
To beat Pacquiao this year it'll take a fighter who was blessed at birth with the necessary skill and tools to do it. He can't be manufactured or trained to do so in any boxing gym by any great trainer, the few that are still around. The fighter to do it will either need the size and power to discourage Manny from trying to attack, or he'll need the mental toughness, strength and gumption to force him to back off and be in the unfamiliar position of him having to fight his opponent off of him instead of the opposite.
Having a great boxing IQ and aptitude is great, but if you're not physically capable of executing your fight plan, it's all for naught and the best plan in the world will implode from overwhelming pressure. So you can get all the cookbook handicappers you want to devise the plan that fits your perfect boxing world. But applying it in the ring is like having a gun in your car during a bar fight. Only the gun isn't gonna do you any good under the front seat of the car, so you don't really have a gun.
Manny Pacquiao is putting together a helluva a resume. And since he's moved up in weight his punch activity has escalated. And that's because the bigger fighters he's confronted are more awed by his speed and unorthodox attack, which induces them to punch less so they're not as wide open, which in turn affords him the opportunity to get off more and dictate the terms of the fight. Like all greats, it'll take another great to beat him while he's at his peak. It took a Duran to beat Leonard, a Leonard to beat Hearns and a Frazier to beat Ali.
Looking back, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez were all great fighters between 126 and 130, weren't they?
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
Source: thesweetscience.com
Mayweather, Mosley, Golden Boy tout their drug-testing plan -- Los Angeles Times
By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times
Whether boxing can follow through on what a major promoter calls "the trigger" to implement "a gold standard of drug testing" in the sport remains unknown, but representatives of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions on Thursday revealed their anti-doping procedures for their May 1 world welterweight title fight in Las Vegas.
"Floyd Mayweather took the lead on this, and it feels like it's time for boxing to take the lead on this," fight promoter Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy, told reporters during a morning conference call.
The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, participated in the call and detailed that Mayweather and Mosley will be subject to random urine and/or blood tests from now "until and after the fight." A positive test, Tygart said, would leave the boxer suspended from the sport for two years, a condition he said both fighters have agreed to.
Mosley, of course, has admitted to using products supplied him in 2003 by Victor Conte, founder of the steroid-distributing Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Conte has said he gave Mosley designer steroids known as the "the cream" and "the clear" and the energy-boosting banned substance EPO, with documents showing that Mosley used the drugs for more than a two-week cycle that ended the week of his 2003 victory by decision over Oscar De La Hoya.
Nevada failed to identify any substances in Mosley's system as performance-enhancing drugs.
Mosley has sued Conte, saying he did not know the substances he took were performance-enhancing drugs. Conte claims he spelled that out to Mosley in a meeting the pair had in 2003 in Conte's Burlingame, Calif., office.
Under the new plan, Tygart said, "we're confident if he did cheat, he'll be caught and exposed. He's never been subject to our jurisdiction until now."
Mayweather's desire for a more stringent testing program than what Nevada offers -- random urine testing before and immediately after the bout -- contributed to the crumbling of negotiations the unbeaten (40-0) boxer had in talks to stage a super-fight against Manny Pacquiao earlier this year.
Pacquiao explained that he doesn't like needles, and feels that giving blood weakens him before a fight. A mediator stipulated that Pacquiao wouldn't have to give blood closer than 24 days before the fight, and then again after the bout. Mayweather didn't agree with the "settlement" and the fight was scrapped.
Tygart declined to answer what he thought of Pacquiao's stance, explaining generally that, "If you're clean, you have no problem being in this program. We see thousands of athletes involved in this program. Why should any athlete be forced to compromise his safety?"
Golden Boy's Schaefer added, "This is not about hitting a baseball or cycling up a hill. It's two guys hitting each other in the head. How could we not be for it?"
Mayweather's lead advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, said he's heard that the New York State Athletic Commission is interested in observing how USADA's handling of this event proceeds, and may incorporate some of the principles in future testing. Other state athletic commission members and promoters nationally have said that the expense of such a program is too excessive to become reality unilaterally.
"If this triggers a gold standard for drug testing in boxing, we're all for it," Schaefer said.
Tygart said that in addition to urine tests for steroids, blood tests will be implemented to search for such perfoirmance-enhancers as Human Growth Hormone, synthetic hemoglobin and blood transfusions.
He credited Mayweather for continuing to press for the intense testing, and said both fighters have agreed to provide their whereabouts all the way to fight night.
"When your sport's not doing everything to protect your rights, it's unfortunate, but athletes who speak out have in some cases been cast aside, feeling they don't have much of a voice," Tygart said. "But athletes have a protector."
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
***
Whether boxing can follow through on what a major promoter calls "the trigger" to implement "a gold standard of drug testing" in the sport remains unknown, but representatives of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions on Thursday revealed their anti-doping procedures for their May 1 world welterweight title fight in Las Vegas.
"Floyd Mayweather took the lead on this, and it feels like it's time for boxing to take the lead on this," fight promoter Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy, told reporters during a morning conference call.
The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, participated in the call and detailed that Mayweather and Mosley will be subject to random urine and/or blood tests from now "until and after the fight." A positive test, Tygart said, would leave the boxer suspended from the sport for two years, a condition he said both fighters have agreed to.
Mosley, of course, has admitted to using products supplied him in 2003 by Victor Conte, founder of the steroid-distributing Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Conte has said he gave Mosley designer steroids known as the "the cream" and "the clear" and the energy-boosting banned substance EPO, with documents showing that Mosley used the drugs for more than a two-week cycle that ended the week of his 2003 victory by decision over Oscar De La Hoya.
Nevada failed to identify any substances in Mosley's system as performance-enhancing drugs.
Mosley has sued Conte, saying he did not know the substances he took were performance-enhancing drugs. Conte claims he spelled that out to Mosley in a meeting the pair had in 2003 in Conte's Burlingame, Calif., office.
Under the new plan, Tygart said, "we're confident if he did cheat, he'll be caught and exposed. He's never been subject to our jurisdiction until now."
Mayweather's desire for a more stringent testing program than what Nevada offers -- random urine testing before and immediately after the bout -- contributed to the crumbling of negotiations the unbeaten (40-0) boxer had in talks to stage a super-fight against Manny Pacquiao earlier this year.
Pacquiao explained that he doesn't like needles, and feels that giving blood weakens him before a fight. A mediator stipulated that Pacquiao wouldn't have to give blood closer than 24 days before the fight, and then again after the bout. Mayweather didn't agree with the "settlement" and the fight was scrapped.
Tygart declined to answer what he thought of Pacquiao's stance, explaining generally that, "If you're clean, you have no problem being in this program. We see thousands of athletes involved in this program. Why should any athlete be forced to compromise his safety?"
Golden Boy's Schaefer added, "This is not about hitting a baseball or cycling up a hill. It's two guys hitting each other in the head. How could we not be for it?"
Mayweather's lead advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, said he's heard that the New York State Athletic Commission is interested in observing how USADA's handling of this event proceeds, and may incorporate some of the principles in future testing. Other state athletic commission members and promoters nationally have said that the expense of such a program is too excessive to become reality unilaterally.
"If this triggers a gold standard for drug testing in boxing, we're all for it," Schaefer said.
Tygart said that in addition to urine tests for steroids, blood tests will be implemented to search for such perfoirmance-enhancers as Human Growth Hormone, synthetic hemoglobin and blood transfusions.
He credited Mayweather for continuing to press for the intense testing, and said both fighters have agreed to provide their whereabouts all the way to fight night.
"When your sport's not doing everything to protect your rights, it's unfortunate, but athletes who speak out have in some cases been cast aside, feeling they don't have much of a voice," Tygart said. "But athletes have a protector."
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
***
Golden guy Schaefer: I'm walking High Road despite mudslingers -- The Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
Richard Schaefer, former Swiss banker who has struck gold working for Oscar de la Hoya, is trying to take the high road this particular year.
I mean the high road as opposed to swapping verbal punches with Golden Boy rivals in the business of disorganized brain damage, meaning boxing.
"That's my New Year's resolution," Schaefer told me. "Whatever Lou DiBella says or whatever Bob Arum or Gary Shaw says, I don't feel the need to reply in asn insulting manner. Let them all engage in that but I don't have to. I just believe it's not necessary."
As an example of not roiling the waters, Schaefer said at the Amir Khan-Paulie Maliganggi press conference for their May 15 Madison Square Garden that he would not make any reference to the continuing smears and allegations about Manny Pacquiao cheating with drugs.
"I am not," Schaefer said, grinning, "even going to use the P word."
Obviously, he meant "p" as in performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Conversely, New York based DiBella said invective can be useful in the ongoing internecine battles in boxing.
"It's the nature of a brutal, competitive business," the former HBO Sports boxing honcho said. "There are times when invective and mudslinging really can't be avoided. You can't just take such tactics and lay down."
But Schaefer said he continue trying to walk down the High Road.
Good luck on that.
But I will say this, Schaefer is not the humorless prig some people think.
He must have a sense of humor as he even speaks to the likes of me.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Richard Schaefer, former Swiss banker who has struck gold working for Oscar de la Hoya, is trying to take the high road this particular year.
I mean the high road as opposed to swapping verbal punches with Golden Boy rivals in the business of disorganized brain damage, meaning boxing.
"That's my New Year's resolution," Schaefer told me. "Whatever Lou DiBella says or whatever Bob Arum or Gary Shaw says, I don't feel the need to reply in asn insulting manner. Let them all engage in that but I don't have to. I just believe it's not necessary."
As an example of not roiling the waters, Schaefer said at the Amir Khan-Paulie Maliganggi press conference for their May 15 Madison Square Garden that he would not make any reference to the continuing smears and allegations about Manny Pacquiao cheating with drugs.
"I am not," Schaefer said, grinning, "even going to use the P word."
Obviously, he meant "p" as in performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Conversely, New York based DiBella said invective can be useful in the ongoing internecine battles in boxing.
"It's the nature of a brutal, competitive business," the former HBO Sports boxing honcho said. "There are times when invective and mudslinging really can't be avoided. You can't just take such tactics and lay down."
But Schaefer said he continue trying to walk down the High Road.
Good luck on that.
But I will say this, Schaefer is not the humorless prig some people think.
He must have a sense of humor as he even speaks to the likes of me.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
After election, who's next for Manny? -- ESPN
By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com
Now that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has easily outpointed Joshua Clottey in a stunningly one-sided decision win on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium, he's headed back to the Philippines to run for congress. The reason he insisted on fighting in March was so he would have enough time to campaign for the May 10 election, which he's apparently serious about.
"Now it is time for a more serious fight for me and that is my campaign for congress," Pacquiao said. "The people of my province are among the poorest. They have been underserved for too long. I want to give a voice to those too weak to speak. They deserve better schools and a higher standard of living. I know how my people have suffered because I have too. That is how I grew up and because I am one of the fortunate ones to have escaped poverty I am compelled to be a public servant for them. If my being in public office can attract new businesses to relocate to my province and to shine a light on the neglect my people have endured, I am only too happy to serve.
"One of the biggest advantages I have is that every fight is an opportunity to give honor to the Philippines. The Filipino people don't just give me their support, they also give me their strength, their pride and their love. Running for congress is a way for me to repay them."
Top Rank's Bob Arum anticipates Pacquiao's ring return in the fall, likely November, regardless of the outcome of the election.
So Arum is already looking ahead and thinking about possible fights for Pacquiao. Obviously, Pacquiao against the winner of the May 1 Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight makes the most sense and is the most lucrative, by far. But Arum was quick to point out that if Mosley wins, it's an unlikely fight because Mayweather has a rematch clause in the contract.
"So any talk of Shane Mosley beating Mayweather and then fighting Manny is poppycock," Arum said, adding that he believed the rematch clause was "strong."
Of course, a Mayweather win would put the sides in the same position they were in a couple of months ago, when Pacquiao-Mayweather imploded over drug-testing procedures.
If Mayweather beats Mosley and there are again issues -- which you just know there would be -- Arum said he has three opponents in mind that he would give a shot at Pacquiao:
• Antonio Margarito, the disgraced former welterweight titlist who Arum anticipates will eventually get his license back after having it revoked for trying to fight Mosley with loaded hand wraps 14 months ago.
• Edwin Valero, the former lightweight titlist who is moving up to junior welterweight for his next fight. Valero, who has had licensing issues because of a past medical problem, is licensed in Texas, so maybe we'll see a return to Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium if that fight is made.
• Juan Manuel Marquez, the lightweight champ who would have to move up in weight. Marquez and Pacquiao have fought two memorable battles with Pacquiao going 1-0-1 in two terrific and close fights in which both decisions were highly controversial. If there is Pacquiao-Marquez III it would mean Top Rank would have to work with Golden Boy, Marquez's promoter, which is always a dicey proposition.
If you missed Pacquiao-Clottey, fought before a crowd of almost 51,000, HBO will replay the pay-per-view bout Saturday night (11 ET/PT).
The pay-per-view numbers aren't out yet because Arum and HBO PPV have totals from only the satellite services.
"All we have is the satellite numbers and they are very strong," Arum said. "We're not giving out any numbers yet because we have very little [information] from the cable systems, which you need. The cable numbers are very fragmented, so it could be a few days. But the number that you can't go any lower than is 650,000 for the fight. That is the worst it would do, but it should be a lot higher."
Source: espn.go.com
Now that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has easily outpointed Joshua Clottey in a stunningly one-sided decision win on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium, he's headed back to the Philippines to run for congress. The reason he insisted on fighting in March was so he would have enough time to campaign for the May 10 election, which he's apparently serious about.
"Now it is time for a more serious fight for me and that is my campaign for congress," Pacquiao said. "The people of my province are among the poorest. They have been underserved for too long. I want to give a voice to those too weak to speak. They deserve better schools and a higher standard of living. I know how my people have suffered because I have too. That is how I grew up and because I am one of the fortunate ones to have escaped poverty I am compelled to be a public servant for them. If my being in public office can attract new businesses to relocate to my province and to shine a light on the neglect my people have endured, I am only too happy to serve.
"One of the biggest advantages I have is that every fight is an opportunity to give honor to the Philippines. The Filipino people don't just give me their support, they also give me their strength, their pride and their love. Running for congress is a way for me to repay them."
Top Rank's Bob Arum anticipates Pacquiao's ring return in the fall, likely November, regardless of the outcome of the election.
So Arum is already looking ahead and thinking about possible fights for Pacquiao. Obviously, Pacquiao against the winner of the May 1 Shane Mosley-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight makes the most sense and is the most lucrative, by far. But Arum was quick to point out that if Mosley wins, it's an unlikely fight because Mayweather has a rematch clause in the contract.
"So any talk of Shane Mosley beating Mayweather and then fighting Manny is poppycock," Arum said, adding that he believed the rematch clause was "strong."
Of course, a Mayweather win would put the sides in the same position they were in a couple of months ago, when Pacquiao-Mayweather imploded over drug-testing procedures.
If Mayweather beats Mosley and there are again issues -- which you just know there would be -- Arum said he has three opponents in mind that he would give a shot at Pacquiao:
• Antonio Margarito, the disgraced former welterweight titlist who Arum anticipates will eventually get his license back after having it revoked for trying to fight Mosley with loaded hand wraps 14 months ago.
• Edwin Valero, the former lightweight titlist who is moving up to junior welterweight for his next fight. Valero, who has had licensing issues because of a past medical problem, is licensed in Texas, so maybe we'll see a return to Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium if that fight is made.
• Juan Manuel Marquez, the lightweight champ who would have to move up in weight. Marquez and Pacquiao have fought two memorable battles with Pacquiao going 1-0-1 in two terrific and close fights in which both decisions were highly controversial. If there is Pacquiao-Marquez III it would mean Top Rank would have to work with Golden Boy, Marquez's promoter, which is always a dicey proposition.
If you missed Pacquiao-Clottey, fought before a crowd of almost 51,000, HBO will replay the pay-per-view bout Saturday night (11 ET/PT).
The pay-per-view numbers aren't out yet because Arum and HBO PPV have totals from only the satellite services.
"All we have is the satellite numbers and they are very strong," Arum said. "We're not giving out any numbers yet because we have very little [information] from the cable systems, which you need. The cable numbers are very fragmented, so it could be a few days. But the number that you can't go any lower than is 650,000 for the fight. That is the worst it would do, but it should be a lot higher."
Source: espn.go.com
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