It is being widely reported that Manny Pacquiao is refusing to comply with Olympic style testing before his bout with Floyd Mayweather. This isn’t exactly the case, and in actual fact Pacquiao has said that he only wants to give blood before the presser for the fight and then after the fight has happened.
This seems to be a pretty fair request given that Pacquiao will be preparing for the biggest fight of his life. Not to mention that the vast majority of banned substances will still be detected within the time frame he has offered the same as they would if he were tested at any other time.
This is at odds with the common practice of the testing which Golden Boy and Mayweather and team are asking for because that testing is typically done randomly. Randomly being whenever they (The United States Anti-Doping Agency) choose, before and after the fight. Conceivably they could demand a blood sample when Pacquiao is cutting weight for the weigh in for example, which could potentially be very disruptive to his preparations.
By all accounts Manny has a phobia of needles, which is why he isn’t keen on having his blood drawn at a moments notice at anytime before the fight. The fact that Mayweather is insisting on this seems to suggest that he and his team are using this as a pressure tactic to try to throw Manny off and make him lose his focus. Mayweather Jr himself has this to say:
“I understand Pacquiao not liking having his blood taken, because frankly I don’t know anyone who really does,” said Mayweather. “But in a fight of this magnitude, I think it is our responsibility to subject ourselves to sportsmanship at the highest level. I have already agreed to the testing and it is a shame that he is not willing to do the same. It leaves me with great doubt as to the level of fairness I would be facing in the ring that night. I hope that this is either some miscommunication or that Manny will change his mind and step up and allow these tests, which were good enough for all these other great athletes, to be performed by USADA.”
What Mayweather doesn’t mention here is that the Nevada Athletic commission tests are the only ones which athletic contests are legally required to abide by. This extra testing is something that Mayweather and Golden boy have cooked up because of the baseless accusations being thrown about by a few voices in the boxing media such as Mayweather Sr. and Kermit Cintron.
The table below is for illegal rather than performance enhancing substances, but the patterns are the same. Blood and urine tests are less effective than hair sampling in every case, and although hair sampling takes longer, surely this would be a better way of testing Manny and Floyd given that they have plenty of time before the fight and that hair sampling is painless.Substance Urine Hair Blood / Oral Fluid Alcohol 6–24 hours up to 90 days 12–24 hours Amphetamines 1 to 3 days up to 90 days 12 hours Methamphetamine 3 to 5 days up to 90 days 1–3 days MDMA (Ecstasy) 24 hrs up to 90 days 25 hours Barbiturates 1 day up to 90 days 1 to 2 days Phenobarbital 2 to 3 weeks up to 90 days 4 to 7 days Benzodiazepines Therapeutic use: up to 7 days. Chronic use (over one year): 4 to 6 weeks up to 90 days 6 to 48 hours Cannabis 3 to 7 days, up to >30 days after heavy use and/or in users with high body fat up to 90 days Up to 24 hours Cocaine 2 to 5 days with exceptions for certain kidney disorders up to 90 days 2 to 5 days Codeine 2 to 3 days Cotinine 2 to 4 days up to 90 days 2 to 4 days Morphine 2 days up to 90 days 1 – 3 days Heroin 3 to 4 days up to 90 days 1– 2 days LSD 24 to 72 hours (however tests for LSD are very uncommon) up to 3 days 0 to 3 hours Methadone 3 days up to 97 days 24 hours PCP 3 to 7 days for single use; up to 30 days in chronic users up to 90 days 1 to 3 days
