ONE of the contentious issues bugging the megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the blood testing dispute.
Tentatively set for March 13 this year at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the bout hit a snag after Team Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions, headed by former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya, accused the Filipino ring idol of using performance enhancing drugs when he won his recent fights.
Pacquiao’s detractors also wanted the Filipino fighter to undergo a new set of anti-doping procedures, including an Olympic-style urine and blood testing.
The holder of an unprecedented seven titles in seven different weight divisions, Pacquiao filed charges of defamation against Team Mayweather for besmirching and destroying his reputation as a boxer.
Named by several boxing websites as their 2009 Fighter of the Year, Pacquiao had emphasized that he has no objections to drug testing as required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which has jurisdiction over the super fight.
“I will provide any specimen, whether it be blood or urine samples, right after the fight but not a day or two before it,” said a visibly angry Pacquiao.
He explained that he had always “felt weak” every time a blood test is conducted within hours or a few days before his fight. But he stressed that he was willing to undergo blood testing 30 days before the fight.
Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s American promoter and top honcho of Top Rank Promotions, said he has proposed to allow the Nevada commission to have the final say in solving the ticklish doping controversy.
“We will go along with what the Nevada commission decides,” Arum said. “We want this fight to go forward.”
If the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is not held on March 13, Arum plans to pit Pacquiao against newly crowned World Boxing Association junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman. Arum had earlier targeted Italian-American Paulie Malignaggi as a replacement, but Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, suggested a third meeting between Pacquiao and Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez.
Nevertheless, there is still a chance for Pacquiao and Mayweather, who boasts an unbeaten record in 40 pro fights, to meet sometime in September.
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In the Olympics, the top four finishers after an event plus others chosen at random are tested for illegal drug use.
Here is how it works:
1. Athlete is designated for testing after an event and escorted to the testing center.
2. Athlete may drink only from sealed containers.
3. Athlete can’t leave testing area until providing at least two ounces of urine.
4. Urine is divided into A and B samples and shipped to laboratory.
5. Laboratory runs test on A sample, placing B sample in locked refrigerator.
6. If A-sample test is positive, a retest is done. If second test is positive, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) notifies the athlete’s national Olympic committee.
7. Athlete may attend testing of B sample. If B sample is positive, the athlete is banned and loses any medal.
(Athletes are entitled to an appeal hearing with the IOC medical commission. Final appeal is made through Court of Arbitration for Sports.)
