Commentary by P.H. Burbridge – Most people believe that the fight of the century collapsed because one fighter made an unprecedented demand while the other became uncharacteristically defensive. But, the truth is BOTH fighters made unprecedented demands and only one agreed while the other called his lawyer. Floyd Mayweather Jr on the advice of his father wanted random blood testing written into the contract while Manny Pacquiao on the advice of his trainer wanted a penalty of 10 million dollars per pound for every pound Mayweather came in over the agreed upon weight. Mayweather agreed to that unbelievable penalty while Pacquiao and team decided that they would not or could not agree to random blood testing. That’s it in a nutshell..
Don’t delude yourself into thinking that this fight fell apart because one camp simply chose not want to yield the upper hand during negotiations. This fight fell apart because Manny Pacquiao refused to have his blood tested. I’ve listened to and discussed this topic with an number of colleagues and I’ve heard a million variations at this point but that reoccurring theme remains. Essentially, by only agreeing to 3 pre-determined, pre-scheduled blood tests Team Pacquiao left too large a loop hole to satisfy not only Team Mayweather but to maintain the integrity of the test. If Mayweather and company agreed to those terms then the testing would have been a complete charade. The results would have been useless. You cannot alert someone in advance of when he or she will be tested. It simply doesn’t work that way. The substance’s they’re searching for generally leave the body within 24-48 hours after use. It doesn’t take much time to register “clean” if you’re an experienced user. So, far everything that Team Pacquiao has come back with in response to this request has made little to no sense. #1: “Manny is afraid of needles.” = Then how did he get all that ink on his body? #2: Freddie Roach say’s “Manny feels weakened for 3 days after having his blood drawn.” = Then why not agree to the 14 day cut off Mayweather suggested? #3: “Manny has never tested dirty on any previous drug tests.” = Neither did Shane!
Now, If you want to ignore all this and choose to dismiss any and all logic for the purposes of supporting Team Pacquiao then go right ahead but some of us are still holding out for a little integrity.
Let me say this NO ONE is above the sport and everybody should be scrutinized when it comes to performance enhancing drugs. It doesn’t matter how many lawsuits Pac initiates the damage at least in terms of the public forum is done. Don’t make the mistake that I’m in anyway “supporting” the Mayweather’s cause in general because nothing could be further from the truth. I think Floyd Sr was a completely out of line for making these allegations in the manner that he did. Typical classless BS from him! I swear he makes himself sound CRAZY whenever there’s a live mic around. The man’s from another planet. That’s not even in question here. But, forget about HOW it came to our attention and start dealing with the real issue. Frankly, all this should have been handled behind closed doors. If it had then the Mayweather’s and Golden Boy Promotions would be standing on much higher moral ground rather than staring down the barrel of a defamation lawsuit. Not that I think this lawsuit will go anywhere. Generally, these types of actions are scare tactics that are only worth their initial shock value on the person being sued. If Manny Pacquiao wanted a sure fire guarantee to win his case all he had to do was say “yes” to all these random tests, test clean and then fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. What could have been better proof than that? He could say “these guys said this terrible, untrue thing about me and I submitted to these tests to prove them wrong and tested CLEAN so, PAY me my money!!” Talk about a SLAM DUNK in court! He would be getting not only his $40 million but a portion of Floyd’s. Talk about a double whammy. But, Pacquiao didn’t do that and is now doing his best to put as much distance between himself and this whole topic as possible. He and his team are hoping all this will get lost in translation during the promotion of his upcoming fight with Joshua Clottey.
It will for Manny’s fans but it won’t for BOXING fans.
His handlers have said “this is all Floyd’s fault” and “he didn’t really want this fight in the first place”! “He’s afraid of losing his “O” so he’s doing everything he can to get out of this fight!” “He’s scared!” The only thing Mayweather asked for was random blood tests and we’re to believe that Pacquiao is refusing because he didn’t like the way that Floyd asked!?! Of course, Mayweather wanted this fight and to suggest that a professional fighter of his caliber is afraid of anyone is ridiculous. Now, Floyd is no angel that’s clear and he’s done a number of things that I’ve STRONGLY disagreed with over the years but in this particular case he’s right and we know he’s right because of the way Team Pacquiao has stumbled over each other trying to spin their way clear. Now, I could go on to list all the contradictions that each one of his team members has made in the last few weeks but I think at this point all of it is fairly well documented. I’m bored with it just like you’re bored with it plus it doesn’t deal with the real issue here.
What people fail to see is that this is much bigger than Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather.
It can’t be explained away with the ever increasing mantra of “this has never been done before in professional boxing”! Yeah, you’re right but does that mean we should just forget about testing moving forward? Because if that’s your suggestion then EVERYBODY should start using HGH or the “Clear” or any other substance that boosts performance just as long as it can’t be detected it in your urine!! That’s the real issue here.
If the various state athletic commissions or boards don’t take this as a wake up call and act quickly to institute more stringent drug policies then we as a fan base should be doing everything in our power to get those people OUT and replace them with people who WILL! Not only that the SANCTIONING body’s should also move the sport into the 21st century by making blood testing the norm rather than the exception. STOP BEING SO DAMN CHEAP!!
The only reason there haven’t been more scandals attributed to professional boxing and doping is because professional boxing always does just the bare minimum.
We always have but I’m hopeful that one day this sport will lead the way when it comes to the safety of our athletes and DO THE RIGHT THING!
Closing thoughts: I’m not saying that Manny Pacquiao is using any kind of performance enhancing drug because I don’t know and may never know. But Manny Pacquiao has broken the first rule of boxing by refusing to shed his own blood and in doing so HE left the door WIDE OPEN for future speculation.
And, the longer he leaves that door open the more people will start walking through!
(Please feel free to contact P.H. Burbridge via email at PHBboxing@yahoo.com with any comments or feedback.)