When word spread in late January that Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather had agreed to terms on a May 1st mega fight at the MGM Grand, the boxing community instantly started heating up. It was the exact type of matchup that people in the sport were looking for and one that would certainly tell us a great deal about the come backing Mayweather.
After both men put the pen to the paper and signed on for their Las Vegas clash it was soon revealed that each fighter had agreed to go through a strenuous Olympic style drug testing procedure for the bout, one that included random urine and blood screening anywhere and anytime leading up to the event. The testing would be overseen by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, the same agency responsible for the implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code in the United States.
It was the same testing procedure that Mayweather had insisted upon for his potential clash with Manny Pacquiao but the Filipino was reluctant to bow down to Mayweather?s terms and their fight never came to fruition. Pacquiao would end up shifting his attention to Accra, Ghana?s Joshua Clottey, whom he would decision over twelve lopsided rounds at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13th, and as soon as that bout was over the immediate focus was turned to Floyd and Shane.
On March 18th The Ring?s Michael Rosenthal broke down all angles to the testing procedure and got insight from Golden Boy Promotions? Richard Schaefer, Mayweather? s advisor Leonard Ellorbe, and USADA Executive Director Travis Tygart on the process itself. In reading Rosenthal?s piece it was obvious that the procedure was new for the sport, but one that appeared to be both meticulous and effective.
The public had a vested interest in the testing and people seemed to be eager about finding out more information regarding the process during Mayweather and Mosley?s pre-fight regimens. Yet despite Mosley recently claiming to randomly be drug tested five times there has been a little bit of uncertainty and speculation amongst fans online and even certain members of the media regarding the lack of information that has been available to the public.
Wanting to simply get a better feel for how the process itself is conducted I reached out to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer to get his thoughts on the testing as well as the commission’s relationship with USADA. Starting from scratch, I first asked Kizer what were his initial thoughts during the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations when Floyd first proposed the testing.
?If a fighter wants to do more than is required he is free to do so,? Kizer notes. ?He doesn?t have to of course; he only has to do what is required. If Floyd wants to do more, than more power to him. There is nothing wrong with him asking Manny and there is nothing wrong with Manny saying ?no?. I can definitely see both sides.?
Pacquiao had said that he was willing to get tested 24 days prior to the fight while Mayweather demanded that the magic number had to be two weeks. Despite Pacquiao?s reluctance to let Mayweather call the shots Mosley would later step in and greeted the process with open arms. Kizer seems to feel that while a little bit of gamesmanship may be the force behind Mayweather?s motives, that the testing still is a positive.
?Obviously Shane was willing to do it and it?s good that they were willing to make an agreement on something,? he says. ?It?s no different than a purse split. Sometimes big fights don?t happen because they can?t agree on a purse split and sometimes they can. You always hope the fighters can reach agreements on the negotiations and in this case they are able to do so. With Floyd and Manny it was close but not close enough.?
Still a little bit in the dark on how the testing is conducted, I asked Kizer if the NSAC had a specific relationship with USADA during the process itself. The Chicago native noted that while he has a positive working relationship with the agency that he also has no specific insight on how their testing procedure is ran.
?No I don?t,? Kizer says. ?I talked to their attorney about eighteen months ago and we actually had a hearing on our drug testing policy. I talked to him back in September of 08? and he was going to try to get Travis Tygart or Dr. Bowers out here for a meeting but they couldn?t make it. Myself and the Chairman actually met with Travis and Dr. Bowers last week and had a very fruitful conversation. We are always happy to listen to the experts on different fields that we deal with. And I think we will probably have another meeting like that probably sometime in mid-May and try to do another rounds of talks and modify our policy if we have to. We were the first state to add steroid testing, we were able to change out rules to change a decision to a ?no contest? if somebody tested positive for a PED. So we are more than happy to take advice from the experts and if there is a way we can implement it into our budgets and our constitutional limitations we are going to do it.?
It had been reported on April 6th by Insidesports.ph that Kizer claimed he had received word from Golden Boy that both Mosley and Mayweather had taken at least one test already. While no specifics were revealed Kizer points out that he did run into Schaefer this past weekend in Las Vegas and was told more of the testing developments.
?I saw Richard Schaefer on Friday at the Hard Rock,? Kizer states. ?We had a fight there with [Erisandy Lara] against Danny Perez in the main event. Richard at that time knew that there had already been at least one drug test and the results hadn?t come in yet. And that they would continue to test them in random periods for the rest of April and then fight night we will be testing them before the fight and after the fight. I think after we are done testing them USADA is going to test them too after the fight. But we aren?t a part of that testing; it is a private testing. As you already know we did a surprise test on Mr. Mayweather in December and he came back clean, no surprise there. We also tested Pacquiao at that time and he came back clean so no surprise there. So we always assume these guys will do the right thing but none the less we are going to test them come fight night.?
In closing I tried to address the speculation that many people online have had about the process itself, and their curiosity as to why no exact details had yet to be made to the public. Kizer respectfully points out that while the sampling of blood and urine takes just seconds, that the exact procedure itself is a much more long and drawn-out process.
?These tests take about a week or so to come back. So I doubt they have come back yet. Of course I do feel that the public has a right to know. All of our drug testing policies, for example, are completely public. My understanding with USADA is that there was any positive tests that they would release that as well but I don?t know when. They have a whole different process than we do.?
Mosley claims to have been tested five times already
It is of note that a few days ago FanHouse reported Mosley?s claims that he had been tested by USADA representative Chris Forberg five times so far, twice by blood and three times by urine.
Going by USADA?s protocol, both Mayweather and Mosley have submitted information on their exact 24-hour whereabouts so that they can be reached at tall times. Tygart also revealed that there is no limit on the number of times that each man can be tested and that if either is to be found positive that the information would be available to the public following a thorough legal process.
