Commentary by P.H. Burbridge – Well, if you were counting the days to March 13th 2010 then you’re probably scratching your head today with the latest news of the Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight hitting a bump in the road. To be absolutely honest when this date was announced and both fighters appeared to agree in principal it just felt too easy. As fans we’ve grown accustomed to negotiations involving Floyd and Manny taking at least a couple of months to finalize. Remember Floyd’s deal with Arturo Gatti or Manny’s deal with Ricky Hatton? Those fights eventually did come to fruition but not before there were numerous starts and stops amidst countless statements from the participating promoters that “the fight was off”! It’s the normal blame game that we’ve seen a million times before. We probably should have figured that the initial “WOW, both guys agreed that quick!?!” was just an illusion. Too good to be true!
So, what’s the jam up today? Olympic style drug testing to be administered by The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency or “USADA” insisted on by Team Mayweather. Now, this whole thing started with what appeared to be an off the wall suggestion from Floyd Mayweather Sr in which he stated that Manny Pacquiao was using a some kind of performance enhancing drug and THAT explained his recent success over bigger and many assumed STRONGER opponents. When Floyd Sr made that statement many of us including yours truly blew it off as just another slight directed at upsetting Freddie Roach while at the same time minimizing Manny’s recent accomplishments. It’s just part of his normal and EXPECTED rap.. In this case, his comments did seem to cross a line and many fight fans and boxing insiders were offended. For a professional athlete to be accused of using performance enhancing drugs in this day and age WITHOUT first hand knowledge by the accuser is absolutely taboo to say the least. I mean unless you’ve seen “secret” test results or held the guys belt why he shot up in your presence then you just don’t make that claim! You don’t even joke about it.
But, NOW it seems that this once “crazy” statement from a man who is known for over the top boasts might be something after all. What you ask? I have NO clue but the implication is clear and the fact that Team Pacquiao has reacted in the way that they have has created more questions than answers.
Here’s what we know. According to Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, the fight is in jeopardy because Pacquiao will not agree to “random” Olympic-style drug testing. The word “random” is the key here for Team Pacquiao because they believe that it could translate to a blood test the day prior to the fight. According to Freddie Roach, Manny is willing to comply with the strict drug-testing standards that both parties agreed to in principal but HE will not allow Manny to have his blood drawn 48 hours before the fight. Team Pacquiao is not saying they won’t take the tests they’re just worried about the timing of these test. Apparently there are a couple of concerns the first being that Manny could be impacted on a psychological level and the second that he might be physically weakened by blood being drawn too close to fight night. Team Pacquiao is arguing that Manny has passed every single drug test he’s ever taken over the course of his career and has always tested clean. Team Mayweather argues that Manny has passed all “urine” collection tests which does not allow for the detection of HGH (human growth hormone). There are doctors coming out of the woodwork as we speak who are stating that urine samples are sufficient for detecting HGH but the bottom line is the AUTHORITY on this subject (USADA) has emphatically stated that blood is required. They need BLOOD! Period! And that’s why Team Mayweather has demanded that the USADA conduct these tests exclusively so there is a clear level of transparency.
This is turning into a publicity nightmare for Manny. Team Mayweather may have created the smoke but Team Pacquiao is fanning the flames with their refusal to agree to random testing. You already know what people will say. “If Manny is clean then why won’t he take the test?” It’s unavoidable not to mention Mayweather will loudly paint the picture of a guy who is afraid of being exposed. Bob Arum says “the fight is off and this is a form of harassment”! First off, NO ONE is walking away from this fight regardless of what Bob Arum is saying today. He would be the biggest fool who ever walked the planet if he let this get away from him. We can expect a compromise to take place in the next week or so. But, in the mean time expect more speculation and innuendo through the press. Team Pacquiao needs to plan their next move very carefully because so far everything Arum and Roach have said appears to be making matters worse.
The longer Manny waits to address this issue personally the bigger the story will become.
So, why is Mayweather not satisfied with the normal (urine) drug screens performed on fighters? Because they’re looking for HGH exclusively!
We know that HGH only stays in your system for a very short period of time so that’s the key reason the USADA performs these tests randomly. There are varying reports as to how long it remains in your blood which depends somewhat on the amount taken. Anyone trying to absorb this stuff in covert fashion would have to KNOW when these tests were going to be administered to avoid detection. The random sequencing is designed to eliminate any possibility that an athlete could use it consistently over the course of his or her training cycles. If you can’t use it consistently then it’s overall effectiveness diminishes. Some reports say its detectable 24-36 hours while others say that blood test can detect it 6-28 days after usage if it was taken in heavy doses. Apparently, there are a lot of variables. I’m no expert so I’ll leave it at that but you get the general gist of where the loopholes lie. Over the years there have been rumors surrounding a few very high profile fighters about HGH use. Generally, boxers take urine tests and are not subjected to blood being drawn prior to fights so the general sense has always been that it was the perfect drug for a fighter. Floyd Jr is acting upon the advice of his father who clearly feels something is going on here. This has never been done in professional boxing to my knowledge so I don’t doubt it was puzzling to Team Pacquiao at first but you wouldn’t think it would be a deal breaker.
Some of the reasons for not allowing these tests are being heavily scrutinized.
Freddie Roach has stated that Manny doesn’t want to change his normal preparation routine and is extremely “superstitious” about blood being drawn for fear that it will weaken him. Now, from my understanding the amount of blood that would be drawn for this test is so miniscule that it should have no adverse affect physically in the short or long term. Keep in mind they spring this very same test on cyclist who are on the eve of competing in the Tour De France so the reality is you probably wouldn’t have anything to worry about even if you took the test 12 hours before the fight. Roach as well as others in Camp Pacquiao have also pointed to Manny’s fear of needles as reason for his refusal to be tested in this manner which seems extremely odd considering that Pacquiao has voluntarily placed a number of tattoos on his body. That process is much more painful than a one time prick of the needle. When it comes to Manny’s “normal” routine, his preparation for big fights especially recently has been anything but normal in fact the last time out they were improvising quite a bit from swimming instead of running due to flooding from the typhoon to holding training camp in a number of different locations. Manny was also putting the finishing touches on a movie during the last run up so you can decide how much credence you should place on that statement.
You see where all this leads. It just looks bad and the refusal alone is enough for some people to side with Floyd Sr which more and more name fighters and boxing people are starting to do. What started off as a smear campaign has erupted into a tornado of half truths and BS! Bob Arums has already attempted to turn this around and point the finger right back at Floyd by implying that he’s trying to get out of this fight. As fans we know that’s pure nonsense. NO ONE would try to get out of a fight when you’ve got a 30-40 million dollar payday waiting for you on the other side. NOBODY! I think Floyd wants the fight but he also wants to satisfy his fathers concerns about this doping suspicion.
Arum is in full counter attack mode trying to change the subject. Now, he’s even questioning the credibility of the USADA which seems ridiculous. The USADA is the authority on this type of testing and have the most advanced testing procedures in the country. They are completely independent and are not aligned with Mayweather in any way shape or form. These people are testing our Olympic athletes and when they supply their findings their results are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)!
This is not some fly by night organization. There are reasons why Pacquiao’s compromise on the testing schedule won’t work.
Pacqiuao has said through his handlers that he’ll agree to his blood being tested three times. #1- In January, #2-thirty days before the fight and #3 – right after the fight.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that both urine and blood tests are needed to determine if a fighter is clean. “There is no urine-based tested for human-growth hormone,” Tygart said. “It doesn’t show up in the urine. It’s only a blood-based test. That’s true of a number of prohibited substances, particularly those that would enhance and aid a boxer.” Tygert also added the schedule Arum is proposing won’t work, because a fighter would have the advantage of knowing when he’d be tested. “That kind of window is totally unacceptable,” Tygart said. “It would provide a huge loophole for a cheater to step through and get away with cheating.”
So, there you have it. It sounds logical to me!
There is a bigger picture here. I think its safe to assume that this will become part of the screening process for professional boxing in the future. If not then it should be. We do need more regulatory oversight to ensure all fighters are competing on a level playing field so I take Arum’s latest statements with a grain of salt. If the shoe was on the other foot I think we would all expect Bob to go all the way in the other direction if Mayweather was in question here.
Now, I have a tough time believing that Manny Pacquiao is on any type of performance enhancing substance but the fact is we simply won’t KNOW until he submits to this testing. If Team Pacquiao maintains their current stance then I think it does more harm than good and creates a lot of suspicion about his recent accomplishments which would be terrible especially if he is indeed clean.
My hope is that Manny deals with this head on and gets all this nonsense behind him.
This whole thing was initiated as part of a larger psychological game being played by Team Mayweather. Create a controversy in the press to distract your opponent and get them responding to things that have nothing to with the fight. Take away from the mental preparation for the fight and to create a dislike on Manny’s side in the hope that his anger will impact how he approaches the fight. Ali did it to Frazier. Make the guy so mad at you that he doesn’t follow instructions and gets out of his game plan. This is only the first of what I think will be many Mayweather stunts designed to do just that.
As of today, the controversy is turning into is a raging inferno that could end up burning everyone involved including Mayweather. If Manny walks and moves up to fight Yuri Foreman as has been threatened then Floyd loses tens of millions of dollars.
BUT, if Manny DOES pass on Floyd a whole lot of fans will look at him differently and a bit of a cloud will follow him for the rest of his career. A black cloud!
My sense is that the fight is NOT in serious jeopardy and a compromise will be made.
This is just too big not to happen so don’t worry about that but keep your eyes open for the “compromise” and the next series of “complications” that are sure to come.
It should be interesting.
Let the real games begin!
(Please feel free to contact P.H. Burbridge via email at PHBboxing@yahoo.com with any comments or feedback.)