We all know the explosion and animosity that the drug testing issue engendered back when Manny
Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather were negotiating for the “Fight of the Millennium.” Wouldn’t it be a genius public relations move if Pacquiao would now voluntarily offer true random testing for his upcoming bout with Shane Mosley?
The boxing media is almost universal in their condemnation of Pacquiao-Mosley, but what if Team Pacquiao could offset that criticism with a bold publicity move that would give the fight an angle and something to focus on rather than the perceived one-sided beating of a faded legend that many expect?
Regardless of whether it’s true or not, Pacquiao will be followed throughout the rest of his career and well into his retirement by the shadow of a doubt from the accusations leveled at him and the way he initially responded to the situation.
Whether he is guilty or not (and there’s no reason to assume that he is guilty of the accusations), by stalling, making excuses, and being inflexible in the first set of negotiations, he gave many detractors a reason to affirm their suspicions. And, while Team Pacquiao did claim to make some concessions in a disputed second attempt to make a Mayweather fight, reportedly lowering Manny’s cut-off date for blood testing to seven days prior to the bout, he has never agreed to full random testing– an issue that, apparently, has always been non-negotiable for Team Mayweather.
What better way to completely turn the tables on the perceived smear campaign than to now openly and graciously offer truly random, Olympic style blood testing for his May 7th contest with Mosley?
