Manny Pacquiao and Top Rank have agreed to Floyd Mayweather’s demand for Olympic style drug testing with provision that the procedures are not supervised by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Top Rank founder Bob Arum’s new requirement is due to the belief that the USADA, which promotional rival Golden Boy used for drug testing in Mayweather last fight against Shane Mosley, would not be a neutral party.
“We have agreed in the Pacquiao camp to unlimited random testing done by a responsible, neutral organization,” Arum explained to Yahoo Sports. “We don’t believe the USADA is a neutral organization. I don’t think anybody’s test is as vigorous as the test administered by the Olympic Organization. And we can arrange for the Olympic Organization to handle the test under the supervision of the Athletic commission respective of the state where the fight is going to be held.”
Since late 2009, blood testing has been the only issue that’s caused several fight negotiations between the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps to collapse. In early 2010, Arum pulled Pacquiao out of an 11th hour mediation with Mayweather to face Joshua Clottey. Last summer, Arum created a media “countdown” for Mayweather to sign the fight before opting to make Pacquiao-Margarito.
Should another negotiation happen following Mayweather and Pacquiao’s respective fights against Victor Ortiz (September 17) and Juan Manuel Marquez (November 12), Arum is adamant this new requirement will not negotiated through the media.
“We’re not going to make this into a cowboy situation,” he vowed. “We have an organization that has no authority [USADA] and even does it [blood testing] without reporting to an organization that is responsible for the conduct of the fight.”
At press time, Floyd Mayweather nor Golden Boy representatives could be reached for comment.
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