With a less than a week before his fight with Shane Mosley, undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr is besieged by lingering questions about his real intention of cleaning up boxing, the sport where he started a career and made his fortune.
There is no doubt in the minds of boxing fans about the necessity of cleaning up the sports of illegal drugs which has threatened the survival of boxing as a legal sport. If that is Mayweather’s real intention, he deserves to be commended on his concern for the sport
But questions about the true intention of the undefeated boxer lingers on. Boxing fans are saying Mayweather Jr is just using the issue on his failed fight with Manny Pacquiao brought about by the blood-testing controversy that he initiated, to prop up his marketability and and use it as smokescreen in ducking the Filipino boxer in order to protect his zero loss of his colourful professional boxing career.
Many questions remained unanswered and boxing fans deserve honest and straightforward answers. Here are some of the questions which need some credible answers from US Anti Doping Agency (USADA) or even from Mayweather Jr himself.
1. Since the blood and urine tests are being done at random up to the day of the fight or even a day or two after the fight, does it mean the test result will not be announced by USADA until after the fight? What is the intent or purpose of allowing the fight to happen without prior disclosure of the result? Why did Mayweather refused to pay the sanctioning fee for the WBA title which he will get if he wins over Mosley? Is this in a way related to the possible stripping of the title if he or Mosley is found positive of drugs?
2. What happens if Mayweather and Mosley or anyone of them are found positive of steroids or performance enhancing drugs? Did the Nevada Sports Athletic Commission (NSAC) give the license to both Mayweather and Mosley for the May 1 fight on the basis of their test results?
3. What is the real reason why USADA did not disclose to the public the mechanics of the test including timing of the announcement?
Boxing fans are entitled get honest and straightforward answers to these questions. After all, they are the ones paying the boxers and making them richer every time they fight. Without the boxing fans, no one will but tickets and pay-per-view subscriptions. And when this happens, no sponsor will advertise to enable the viewers to watch the fight. In the end, the boxers and promoters will suffer and become the ultimate losers.
Mosley and Mayweather Jr have been throwing “trash” at each other and the uncensored exchange of accusations is not doing boxing any good.
In an article by Lorne Scoggins of Examiner.com, referring to Mayweather, Jr, Mosley was quoted as saying:
“What’s weird to me is that everybody on his whole team, all of his security guards, they look like they’re on steroids. They all look like they’re on ‘roids, and I don’t understand it. I mean, why does he keep saying, ‘Steroids, steroids, steroids,” Mosley said.
“You know? Maybe, I mean, he has all of these people around him that’s on steroids, maybe he dibbles and dabbles a little bit.” Mosley said. “The guy that keeps talking, you know, the guys that usually talk about it all the time, ‘Oh, steroids, steroids, oh!’ They’re usually the ones on it.”
Mayweather, Jr. on his side said:
“I can’t see how a guy like Mosley can call himself a great, or how Mosley can call himself a future Hall of Famer, when we don’t know how long he was taking those enhancement drugs. This is something that we don’t know,” Mayweather said.
Mosley did admit to steroid use 7 years ago, but there has been no evidence of any use of enhancement drugs since that time. One would think that Mosley’s willingness to take the random testing would have silenced Mayweather, if only until after the fight.
These typical trash talks will continue even after the Mayweather-Mosley fight on May 1 as long as USADA keeps on withholding information related to the blood and urine tests being conducted on Mosley and Mayweather Jr.
