LET me preface this by sayin that Floyd Mayweather is in the wrong regarding drug testing for a potential showdown with Manny Pacquiao that would likely smash box office records. Drug testing procedure has long been at the discretion of the appropriate state commission and barring Saturday’s win over Shane Mosley, Mayweather has been satisfied with that state of affairs throughout his entire career. Whether Floyd has doubts over a particular boxer is largely irrelevant, as is Pacquiao’s strange or, for some observers, even suspicious idiosyncracy regarding the taking of blood and its potentially draining effects upon him. To adhere to absolute fairness – a principle Mayweather claims is driving his testing campaign – you simply cannot treat one boxer, in this case Pacquiao, differently from not only 41 of Mayweather’s previous opponents but every other boxer in the sport. It’s not fair.
Yet despite this belief in how unreasonable Mayweather is being, I’m asking Manny to back down and take the tests. I can hear Filipinos everywhere (though mainly in the Philippines) screaming, “Why should he?” The answer is, he shouldn’t, and yet he must, if the fight everyone wants and boxing needs is to happen.
Mayweather’s domination of Mosley, round two aside, has swung the pound-for-pound pendulum back in his favour, just as Pacquiao’s equally masterful March triumph over Joshua Clottey tipped the balance towards Manny. How long can this game of one-upmanship continue before they either run out of viable opponents or overlook an uninspiring adversary and get upset? As things stand, there is no-one else I particularly want either man to face – Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez are too big, Andre Berto and Devon Alexander too inexperienced right now. While I do not think there will be doubts about Pacquiao’s ‘cleanliness’ in years to come, as his trainer Freddie Roach recently pointed out in his Boxing News column, Manny failing to meet his great rival will damage the legacies of both men.
So having established that the superfight has to happen, why is it Manny who must concede on the sticking point? For no other reason than Floyd cannot. The American has painted himself into a corner, having made such a big song and dance about WADA-style testing that now all of his fights may have to be subject to it. If the Mosley fight had preceded the negotations with Team Pacquiao, I cannot imagine “Sugar” Shane having had to undergo such rigourous procedures. Floyd, for whatever reason, has made a statement, drawn a line in the sand and his pride – the most important thing to Mayweather – will not allow him to backtrack.
That leaves Manny. Someone has to be the better man, so why not the fearless warrior who has regularly defeated naturally larger men and made a career out of overcoming adversity? If Manny can somehow get past the ‘blood’ thing – I recognise that superstition is not logical – it will mean a huge shot in the arm (pun intended) for the sport, and Pacquiao will be remembered as the man who made it happen. And if he wins, he’ll have made Mayweather look small twice.
The main advantages fans give UFC over boxing are that the best fight the best and everyone knows who the top man is. So for boxing’s sake, Manny, please, be the bigger man outside the ring so you can prove the better man inside the ring.
