“Who Knows Pacquiao-Mayweather Truth?”

An article by Dan Rafael, courtesy of ESPN.com:
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I’m not entirely sure what to make of the whole Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. negotiations/non-negotiations thing. All I do know is that I have lost sleep over it, which is what a 3 a.m. Saturday conference call with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum will do. 

Arum has insisted over and over that he was negotiating a deal with Mayweather adviser Al Haymon, with whom he has a horrific relationship, using HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg as an intermediary. Arum swears by it. He said it to me before the conference call. He said it on the conference call to the world media. He said it to me and others in separate interviews after the call.

Arum has a long history of playing fast and loose with the truth, which is nothing new to anyone who follows or covers boxing. But this would be an all-time whopper. If he is lying, it means he not only threw Greenburg under the bus, it means Arum was the bus driver.

Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s other adviser and the one who speaks for him publicly — Haymon fears the media more than Mayweather apparently fears Pacquiao — said no negotiations ever took place.  Ellerbe put out a statement, the only official word we’ve heard from Team Mayweather during this whole childish saga.  The statement read, “Here are the facts. Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis, and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying.”

I’ve known Ellerbe for a long time. As far as I can tell, he’s not the lying type, although he still owes me dinner.

But I don’t know who to believe in this case.

Read the rest of Dan Rafael’s article at ESPN.com

Update: Pacquiao doesn’t want 24-hour available testing, but tested on ’24/7′?

ESPN’s Dan Rafael reported Monday that according to HBO records, they have recovered video footage of Manny Pacquiao taking a “routine blood test as part of his pre-fight medical exam” during its “24/7″ program, which aired as part of the Hatton/Pacquiao promotion.  According to HBO, the test was conducted exactly 2-weeks before his fight with Hatton.  If this is true, one only wonders why Pacquiao continuously refuses to accept terms that would bind him to take blood tests within a 30-day window of his proposed March 13th fight with Mayweather out of fear that blood draws so close to the scheduled event will cause physical weakness (especially considering he defeated Hatton via Round 2 Knock Out).

In the meantime, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has ordered both Mayweather and Pacquiao to submit urine samples within the next 48 hours; a request which is within their jurisdiction regardless if an agreement to fight has been reached between the two camps or not.

Click Here to read Dan Rafael’s full article.

Mayweather – Pacquiao Vol. 1: “The Departed”

A buzz began to generate late yesterday evening… proceeded only by a press release from Goldenboy’s LA highrise, News surfaced that issues arose at the Pacquiao-Mayweather negotiation table.  Not surprising, considering never before in the history of boxing (even in the era of Don King & Ali) has there ever been a fight that featured the participation of so many “bosses” (Team Mayweather aka “Money Inc.,” Top Rank’s Bob Arum, “The Coach” Freddy Roach, ”The Monopoly” that is Goldenboy Promotions… and of course “King” Pacquioa).  It cannot go unmentioned however that up until yesterday, all of the crews managed to be civil… there was no trespassing on enemy turf, and the only bullets dislodged were from a collar microphone on HBO’s “Joe Buck Live“.  Dallas stadium was forced to withdraw its bid to host the event, reservation books along the strip began to fill-up, and MGM was quietly celebrating the anticipation of cash & dividends that could be mistaken for another Obama stimulus!  All of this of course, was before yesterday… as ESPN’s Dan Rafael reported late last night and later update  this morning on Sports Center….THE FIGHT IS OFF….. for now.

Last night, I began posting reports & updates indicating that Team Mayweather was requesting Olympic style testing for their upcoming fight, which would subject both fighters to “24/7″ urine and blood sampling.  Floyd Mayweather’s camp suggested this level of enhanced testing, so as expected he’s accepting to these terms; and to be perfectly honest, I think the sport should implement a stronger, international, ”cross-commission” anti-doping policy as opposed to a “state-to-state” policy, considering the developments we’ve seen in Major League Baseball, the NFL, Olympic Track & Field, and Cycling.  Perhaps the testing request is a bit of gamesmanship, and maybe its even a  bit arrogant to force this upon the 7-division, pound-for-pound “Boss” of boxing.  But with so much money on the line, where $10 Million (yes, $10 Million) is reportedly per-pound fee for coming in over the 147 pound weight limit… it seems a bit silly that a fighter would object to a few pricks in the arm.

Just to be clear, I can understand PacMan’s issue with “24/7″ testing, which could even be conducted in the middle of the night the day before the fight (if necessary).  He’s agreed to testing prior to training camp, and immediately following the fight.  Also, it should be highlighted that although there have been some doping allegations against Manny Pacquioa (primarily from Floyd Mayweather Sr., who finds Manny’s ability to come up in weight and maintain his power, speed, and strength an impossible feat without the assistance of performance enhancers), Pacquiao has never failed a drug test.  And so to be proclaimed the King of Welterweights, and to now have an unfamiliar testing system forced upon you,  is a bit unreasonable.

But, that’s their issue…  The fans don’t care about Manny being superstitious, nor do they care about Mayweather Sr.’s suspicions.  In an era of sports where we’ve seen athletes test positive for all sorts of performance enhancers (from Manny’s name-sake who now plays ball with the Dodgers, to Alex Rodriguez who was celebrated this past fall for his post-season swing); it doesn’t seem unreasonable to ask for more stringent testing.  Furthermore, in a sport as violent as boxing (where battery and blood are what ‘draw’ fans to the arena), a simple ‘blood-draw’ via syringe every few weeks over the course of 3 months doesn’t seem like a big deal!!

But of course, “why change the rules now!?”  PacMan is willing to comply, but not within the 30-window where training & prep-work are intensified; an understandable considering it would become a distraction for a fighter with a superstitious phobia of needles.  Fact is, these are Mayweather’s rules, and not the Nevada State Athletic Commissions’.

…But for a Boss who has built is reputation of invincibility on the basis that he has no physical weakness, could this inhibition be the first sign of a mental leak; that he would permit a $35-40 Million payday and perhaps the biggest fight in the history of boxing to sink because of a needle?  Can his fans legitimately believe that there isn’t some sort of underlying issue, and that the same fighter who has made a career out of draining “B-positive” from his opponents is just suffering from a mental phobia of pre-fight puncture wounds?  In a recession, can folks believe that anyone in their right mind would be willing to walk away from that kind of bank-roll because of a medical superstition?  When guys like Lance Armstrong, Lebron, Kobe, & Michael Phelps have all gone through this type of testing, is it that terribly unreasonable to suggest both guys subject themselves to what ‘should be’ the standard in terms of testing in all sports?

For now, we’ll all just have to wait and see what the bosses decide…

To be continued…
 

T.J. Breeden
www.iblmedia.com