Pacquiao - Mayweather. Who do you blame?

January 13, 2010 by Firecracker Beer

          Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has secured  ½ the fight he wanted to take place at his new Cowboys Stadium.  On March 13th, he gets Manny Pacquiao, but not Floyd Mayweather.  Instead, Pacquiao will face Joshua Clottey.  Not to be outshined on that date, Mayweather is making plans to fight in Las Vegas against a yet to be determined opponent. (Dan Rafael, espn.com)  Among those names mentioned as opponents are Paulie Malignaggi, Nate Campbell and Kermit Cintron.
   
         Jones wanted a mega fight for his new mega stadium. Instead he has to settle for half the mega in a mega fight in what turns out to be an interesting fight at best. I can’t help to think that Jerry Jones, like many of us, are disappointed in the outcome of all the on again, off again talks and the constant trash talk and bickering going back and forth of the original Pacquiao –Mayweather fight. They sure can talk up a good fight, but oh well.  If they can set egos aside, maybe we can see this fight in the future.

             $25million was laid out on the table and neither side could put aside their differences to fight for it. What I would like to know from you, the reader is who do you see at fault for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight not happening? This is my take on the situation.   

             On one side we have the champion, Manny Pacquiao, who at the accusations of the Mayweather camp is doping and using some sort of steroids based on the rise of Pacquiao as a smaller fighter, moving his way up in several bigger divisions and beating bigger opponents.  It is of interest to note, that Mayweather himself has a very similar rise in the divisions throughout his career himself.   The Mayweather camp is calling for Olympic style drug testing which would comprise of random drug testing all the way up to the fight as well as afterwards.  Pacquiao would not concede to these demands claiming that he feels weakened for a day or so after having his blood drawn and that it would take away from his training and during the fight where he would be tested prior.  Later in fight negotiations, Pacquiao’s camp countered with testing at the start of training camp, 1 random test during training camp but no later than 30 days before the fight, and one last test after the fight. Mayweather’s camp declined.
   
             On the other hand you have Floyd Mayweather who many feel does not want to fight Manny.  It is said of Floyd that he has a history of ducking fighters that have a chance to beat him.  (A good article in argument of that can be found here). Claims have been that it is these Olympic style drug tests that the Mayweather camp insists on are being used as a tactic avoid the fight.  Floyd, ever the big smack talker and his own biggest fan, has made claims in his career that he will retire pound for pound the world’s greatest and undefeated.  He has done that in retiring undefeated and pound for pound champ, but then came Manny Pacquiao and took the world by storm. Manny was crowned pound for pound champ and Mayweather’s name was soon forgotten. This did not sit well with Mayweather. So much so that Floyd had to come out of his early retirement and throw his name in the mix again.

               My feeling is that is the blame lies with Floyd Mayweather and his camp.  Throughout this, he has acted very unprofessional by accusing Manny of doping.  Could it be possible that Manny is hiding something by not conceding to the drug test? Yes, it’s a possibility.  Until Manny test positive for a banned substance, one should not be hurling such damaging accusations.  He has come up clean in the past fighting in Nevada under the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Remember that it is the State’s Athletic Commission that handles the screening and drug testing of fighters.  It’s not Mayweather’s place to dictate the rules about blood testing.  If he really wanted to fight like he says he wants to, then he’d let the Commission do their jobs and stop making demands that halts the progress of the fight being signed.