Pacquiao sues Mayweather for defamation

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) – Manny Pacquiao is fighting mad, and taking on Floyd Mayweather jnr in court even as a potential blockbuster bout between the two is on the ropes.

Filipino hero Pacquiao filed a lawsuit in federal court in Las Vegas on Wednesday alleging that Mayweather and others defamed him by falsely saying Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs.

"Calling a professional athlete a cheater is the most serious charge one can make," the lawsuit says, "and in today's world, accusing an athlete of using performance-enhancing drugs - however baseless and lacking in evidence - is toxic."

Pacquiao has been angered by the Mayweather camp's insistence on doping control blood tests in the buildup to their welterweight showdown - a demand that has the March 13 fight in doubt.

Mayweather has said the blood tests, which could detect substances not found by urine tests, are vital to ensure a fair fight, although blood tests are not routinely used in boxing.

Pacquiao - who says he fears having blood drawn less than 30 days before the fight would 'weaken' him - has taken exception to the demand and to comments made by the Mayweather camp in media interviews.

His lawsuit asks for damages in excess of 75,000 dollars and names Mayweather, his father, Floyd snr, and uncle Roger Mayweather as defendants. Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer, who operate Golden Boy Promotions and are promoting Mayweather, are also named as having "stated publicly that Pacquiao has used and is using performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids."

The lawsuit cites several interviews given by the Mayweather camp, including the unbeaten US boxer's comments in a radio interview in October about Pacquiao's physical development, when he said: "cause we know the Philippines got the best enhancing drugs."

Also quoted in the suit were Mayweather's remarks published in the british newspaper The Guardian, in which Mayweather said he had "great doubt as to the level of fairness I would be facing in the ring that night."

"The truth did not stop Mayweather and the others," the suit alleges. "That is because they are motivated by ill will, spite, malice, revenge and envy."

Pacquiao, who has supplanted Mayweather in the estimation of many as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, has earned titles in seven weight classes.

Their fight could bring each as much as 40 million dollars, and it had appeared to be virtually set after squabbles were settled over issues including the division of the purse and the type of gloves to be used.

The dope test procedures, however, have proved a sticking point.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum is preparing to open negotiations with World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman as talks with Mayweather falter.

Arum, contacted by the newspaper while on vacation in Mexico, sounded pessimistic that Pacquaio-Mayweather would happen on March 13.

"This is only my opinion, but I don't see the fight happening now," he told the Times. "Positions are hardening ... Manny's fit to be tied. He's very angry."

Arum acknowledged there could still be a breakthrough, but said: "It might be best to visit this fight later in 2010."

Source: Yahoo! News

The Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather fight will happen

Rather like some of Naseem Hamed's ring entrances the lead-up to Pacquiao-Mayweather is turning into a prologue disproportionate to the event itself, grand as that potentially is.

Even the Greatest Show On Earth, as it will no doubt eventually be billed, could do without the posturing that the fighters and their agents have shown the past week or so.

Believe this: the fight will happen. Already there are signs that Floyd Mayweather Jr is softening his stance about Manny Pacquiao having Olympic-style drug testing. Pacquiao's threat to sue him might have had something to do with that. Expect a late compromise there, too.

From the off it has been a mix of clumsy brinkmanship and hype. Mayweather is disingenuous in the extreme in even hinting that Pacquiao has had chemical assistance in growing through the weights – because "Money" himself has tracked him almost identically since they both fought at 106lbs when 16-year-olds. Pacquiao has seven versions of world titles at seven weights, Mayweather at five weights. What is the difference?

Arum has stoked the row brilliantly. Having scheduled the fight for 13 March, he knows the promoters have a desperately short lead-time to maximise pay-per-view sales, which are predicted to top three million.

Consider how quickly two of the most notoriously difficult fighters in the business agreed on what were considered time-bomb difficulties: a split of the $50m purse, the weight, the venue and even a financial penalty if Mayweather came in over 147lbs. Those details were settled in record time.

So, surprise of all surprises, we were then visited by controversy, seemingly though not actually out of the blue. Mayweather, like Arum no fool, picked up on the baseless steroids sniping of his father, Floyd Sr, and the media coverage in what had been disturbingly quiet early days of the promotion kicked into overdrive.

Now everyone is talking about it. This really is the fight you cannot miss. Get on the phone and pay for that view.

The latest (at time of writing in this tiresome melodrama) is that Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Mayweather's promotional partners, Golden Boy Promotions, has told ESPN they are no longer insisting on "Olympic-style" testing.

Hurray. Grow up. Get on with it.

Talk by Arum that he had lined up Paulie Malignaggi as an alternative opponent if Mayweather pulled out has been one of the most laughable smokescreens in the whole episode. Did Arum really think he could build up hopes of the biggest fight in the history of boxing, then substitute one of the players with a second-tier, punchless runner like Malignaggi, a fancy-Dan illusionist who could not keep Ricky Hatton off him? Pacquiao would murder him – in the nicest possible way.

The other option, according to Freddie Roach, was for his little champion to take on the new light-middleweight title-holder Yuri Foreman. The trainee rabbi cannot punch either – but it would at least have given Pacquiao an eighth title, which would be amazing in its own statistical way.

No, forget all of those dumb stories. Pacquiao fights Mayweather, probably on 13 March, almost certainly at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. If not in March, in May. Which is pretty much where we left it before this exaggerated ring walk started.
GOOD TIMES AHEAD

Boxing has had much to celebrate in 2009, even more to look forward to in 2010.

A few predictions

• David Haye to beat John Ruiz after a real struggle as he worries about his right hand and then to wrangle for months with Vitaly Klitschko. That is still too tough to call from this far out. Whether they take it to Gabon, their own Rumble in the Jungle, as reported yesterday, I very much doubt. But it will happen.

• Floyd Mayweather's suspect hands to give up on him against Manny Pacquiao, who walks through him to win by late stoppage.

• Amir Khan to defend his light-welter title against Paulie Malignaggi in the week before Pacquiao-Mayweather, whenever that is, and belt him into retirement.

• Ricky Hatton to come back – first against Juan Manuel Marquez, negotiations for which are well advanced, then in a co-promotion with Khan against the Bolton man – and lose bravely.

• Carl Froch to have an absolute war with Mikkel Kessler and win on cuts.

• Kevin Mitchell, Matthew Macklin, Nathan Cleverly and Rendall Monroe to get world-title shots; Ryan Rhodes and Jason Booth to be in there trying.

• John Murray and Kell Brook to fight for European titles.

• Sam Sexton to beat Danny Williams and be called out by Tyson Fury, Derek Chisora and Uncle Tom Cobbleigh but settle for a third go with Martin Rogan. Fury to fight John McDermott again.

•Frankie Gavin to make bigger strides than the other Olympians.

• And Liam Walsh to confirm what a sublime talent he is.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND

"As far as I'm concerned, the fight is over. O-V-E-R." Bob "that-was-yesterday" Arum.

Source: bleacherreport.com

Key to super fight could be '24/7' testing

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
Archive

With the proposed March 13 Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. super fight hanging in the balance as the camps continued to slug it out over drug-testing protocol Monday, Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said he was open to talking to his fighter again about the timing of the prefight blood test.

Top Rank's Arum had set a Monday deadline to finalize a deal.

When HBO televised "Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7," it aired footage of Pacquiao taking a routine blood test as part of his prefight medical exam. The blood test was conducted approximately 14 days before the fight; it punches holes in Pacquiao's argument that giving blood inside 30 days of a fight negatively impacts his performance.

Also Monday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which would oversee the fight because it is due to take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, set in motion plans to randomly test the urine of both fighters regardless of whether the fight takes place.

Throughout negotiations over the drug testing -- the final point the sides need to agree on -- Pacquiao has said he would submit to unlimited random urine tests. However, he refused Mayweather's demand to have random blood testing. Instead, Pacquiao agreed to take three tests, one during the week of the kickoff news conference in early January, one random test to be conducted no later than 30 days before the fight, and a final test in his dressing room after the fight. Mayweather would be subject to the same testing.

However, Pacquiao's past actions might help Arum convince him to tighten the window for the final random blood test.

When HBO televised "Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7" -- the four-part series that followed the buildup to Pacquiao's second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton to win the junior welterweight title in Las Vegas last May -- it aired footage of Pacquiao taking a routine blood test as part of his prefight medical exam in Los Angeles.

The blood test was conducted approximately 14 days before the fight; it punches holes in Pacquiao's argument that giving blood inside 30 days of a fight negatively impacts his performance.

Arum was intrigued by the "24/7" scenario. He told Reuters on Monday that he was ready to move away from Mayweather and announce a new opponent on Tuesday for Pacquiao, but that was before the "24/7" scenario was brought to his attention.

"I will transmit it [word of Pacquiao's '24/7' test] to Manny once [HBO Sports president] Ross Greenburg establishes the actual date of the test in '24/7' and [the Mayweather camp] makes a proposal based on what Ross has come up with," Arum told ESPN.com from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "If that happens, I am sure I can convince Manny" to tighten the testing window.

Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, which is promoting Mayweather for the fight, was also made aware of the "24/7" footage, telling ESPN.com, "I need to discuss it with Team Mayweather. We need to find out what it means if you cut off testing 14 days before the fight. I want to talk to [Mayweather advisers] Al Haymon and Leonard [Ellerbe]."

Although talks had broken down on Sunday, the camps were at least talking again on Monday afternoon after they learned of the "24/7" scenario.

"It's a very good point to point out that Manny was tested so close to the [Hatton] fight," Arum said. "I'm not going to suggest anything to him though, until I hear from the other guys. They have to say, 'This is what Manny did. Here is what we propose.' Then I will bring it to Manny and say, 'Manny, look, you took this test however many days before the fight and it didn't affect you. Hey, you knocked him out in two rounds.'

"What will Manny do? I assume he will listen to me, but I can't promise anything. But I want [Mayweather's camp] to make a formal proposal that this is the outside date for the blood testing based on Manny's prior test in '24/7' and then I will move mountains."

Prior to discussing the "24/7" scenario, the camps were looking at alternative March fights. Both camps had reached out to former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi. Arum was also prepared to have Pacquiao challenge for a title in a record-extending eighth weight class against Yuri Foreman, a Top Rank junior middleweight who won a belt on the Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto undercard on Nov. 14.

"We'll ask the MGM which fight they want [Pacquiao's or Mayweather's] and the MGM will then pick the fight and alienate one of the fighters forever," Arum said. "We have another date [of March 20] that we can go on outside of the MGM and we will do that if we have to. If HBO takes sides, which they're free to do, we have discussed alternatives."

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, the Nevada commission held its final meeting of 2009. At the conclusion of the 25-minute meeting, chairwoman Pat Lundvall closed by invoking the commission's right to conduct random urine tests on Pacquiao and Mayweather.

"The Nevada administrative code obligates any unarmed combatant to submit to tests if they're directed to do so by a member of the commission for prohibited substances," Lundvall said at the public meeting. "And it was in 2007 that we amended our regulations to ensure we were following the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list. ... That is the list we adhere to for the purposes of the testing that is conducted through the athletic commission. We determined that those provisions applied not only immediately before and after a fight, but also to random testing during training, and that any member of the commission can request such a random test."

Lundvall asked commission executive director Keith Kizer to employ the commission's random testing procedure and "request a urine sample from Floyd Mayweather as well as Manny Pacquiao. They're both licensees and they are subject to these kinds of exams whether the proposed fight goes forward or not.

"Random testing is the best way to evaluate the compliance with our rules and regulations against prohibited substances and the primary reason for that is that an athlete doesn't have time to cycle out or flush out any prohibited substances, and therefore random testing is the best thing to employ, which is why I thought it was a good idea for Keith to inform these fighters that we would like to have a sample and move forward with our random testing."

Commissioner Bill Brady added that he supported the request to ensure the safety of the fighters as well as to "reassure the public worldwide that when anyone fights in Nevada that they can count on those fights being fair, above board and on a level playing field. I think it's important that the public knows the commission takes their responsibility seriously."

Pacquiao and Mayweather must submit to the tests within 48 hours or face possible fines or suspension by the Nevada Athletic commission.

"That at least starts the ball rolling," Kizer said.

Mayweather lives in Las Vegas, so that should not be an issue. But even with Pacquiao in the Philippines, Kizer said the commission has labs it works with worldwide.

Kizer said the results would likely be back within a week of the test.

"That's fine, no problem at all," Arum said when told of Nevada's ruling. "We are absolutely in favor of it. That's what they should be doing. That's what they do in other sports. I see no reason why they shouldn't do it here. We support it 100 percent. I really applaud the way the Nevada commission has acted.

"I will check with Mayweather," Schaefer said, reacting to Nevada's request. "Right now, I need to focus on getting the fight done."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: bleacherreport.com

Spat before fight is odd, even for boxing

By Tim Sullivan, UNION-TRIBUNE COLUMNIST
Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 2:43 a.m.

File this latest boxing flap under the head-scratching heading of Man Bites Dog.

Prefight controversies designed to expand pugilism’s narrow niche audience are predictable, transparent and generally tedious. Yet when a match as compelling and potentially lucrative as Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. founders on matters of integrity and principle, well, that’s startling stuff.

This is, remember, boxing.

Mayweather’s insistence on stringent Olympic-style drug testing and his corner’s presumption of Pacquiao’s chemical culpability have clouded their scheduled March 13 megabout and, theoretically, could lead to its cancellation.

Maybe it’s all hype. Maybe the issue is being aired as advertising, as goading gamesmanship or as a calculated effort by Camp Mayweather to establish an excuse for backing out and/or getting beat.

Given boxing’s historic corruption, prevailing anarchy and eroding share of the market for vicarious violence, arched eyebrows are certainly warranted. But with accusations flying like so many left jabs, with Pacquiao threatening a defamation suit and with promoter Bob Arum purportedly exploring alternative matchups, it’s conceivable that the combatants are prepared to leave many millions on the table rather than concede this sticky bargaining point.

Instinct says the two sides will settle, that there’s too much money at stake (perhaps more than $30 million per man) for this deal to die over drug-testing protocols. Moreover, having already scored some points by painting Pacquiao into a guilty-until-proven-innocent corner, Mayweather can now retreat to his corner with a ready-made alibi.

The situation remains fluid. Yesterday, ESPN.com reported the Mayweather camp dropped its demand that the testing be administered by USADA. Meanwhile, Top Rank’s Arum indicated Pacquiao would only agree to blood tests at the unlikely request of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Stay tuned. Which, of course, is exactly what the promoters want you to do.

Despite an appalling lack of evidence, Mayweather has planted the idea that Pacquiao’s brilliant career has been a fraud, and he has left his opponent with a ponderous burden of proof. If Pacquiao does not consent to Olympic-style testing, which could involve drawing blood on the day of the fight, he will create doubt about all he has done. If Pacquiao backs down, he will do so while playing Mayweather’s game.

Given their ability, egos and financial incentives, it is hard to imagine that the two men who have agreed to fight at 147 pounds won’t eventually do so in the ring rather than the courtroom. Still, this impasse illustrates boxing’s need for a central regulatory body that establishes and enforces the rules of engagement for all contestants.

Individual boxers should not be negotiating drug-testing standards on a bout-to-bout basis, no more than they should be dickering over the dimensions of the ring, the weight of their gloves or the number of rounds. Yet in the absence of any sanctioning body that can be taken seriously, boxing negotiations are inevitably about leverage rather than creating a level punching field.

Anyone who climbs into the ring at the risk of being beaten senseless is entitled to neutral conditions, consistent standards, an unbiased application of the rules and impartial enforcement of policy.

Boxing, however, operates on the premise that everything is negotiable and that most things can be manipulated.

Absent an evenhanded administration, challengers are often compelled to confront champions at financial and strategic disadvantages. Perhaps the champion deserves a bigger share of the purse for putting his title in play, but allowing him to impose competitive conditions runs counter to the basic concept of fair competition.

Distasteful and distrustful as it is, drug testing has become a vital interest of professional sports, and I’m not referring to the comparatively cursory form that exists in Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Absent a reliable urine test for Human Growth Hormone, the primary values of big-league drug tests are appearances and deniability.

Yet that doesn’t mean Olympic-style scrutiny, which entails random, unannounced blood testing, should be enacted on the arbitrary, ad hoc basis Mayweather has demanded. A fighter should enter the ring with a reasonable expectation that his opponent is clean, but drug testing should not be conducted on the vigilante or tactical basis being sought here.

Pacquiao’s problem is how to avoid it now without giving the appearance of guilt.

“I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it,” Pacquiao said in a statement posted on his Web site. “I have no idea what steroids look like, and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years.

“Now, I say to Floyd Mayweather Jr., don’t be a coward and face me in the ring, mano-a-mano, and shut your big, pretty mouth so we can show the world who is the true king of the ring.”

Because this is boxing, the default expectation is that if cooler heads cannot prevail, cold cash can. Ultimately, Pacquiao and Mayweather must weigh their positions against the largest payday of their careers.

If the money doesn’t win out, file that, too, under Man Bites Dog.

Source: signonsandiego.com

Has Floyd Mayweather trapped himself over drug testing demands?

Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner | Scott Heritage

Between making a concession, backing out of the fight completely and being sued, Floyd Mayweather may be in for a tough time of it in the new year.

Swathes of the media and fans are already down on Floyd since he came back from retirement because of his weight tricks against Juan Manuel Marquez, and the so called blood gate isn't helping any.


Floyd might still be the best fighter of his generation as he keeps telling everyone, but sooner or later he's going to need to start fighting relevant tough fighters to keep his name out there.

Obviously they don't come any tougher than Manny Pacquiao at the moment, but with that fight hanging by a thread it seems Floyd has backed himself into a corner. There are options for other top fighters Floyd could take on, but if his first choice if the Manny fight is off is Matthew Hatton, then it doesn't look likely that a true test will be forthcoming.

On the one hand he could drop the drug testing issue completely, or make some sort of compromise with Top Rank and Pacquiao, which the latter have been trying to do for several days now. This at least guarantees him a $40 million plus pay check in March and could put him back at the top of the pound for pound rankings should he win. At the same time though a fight against Manny could be the breaking of his career, and a loss would no could be difficult to overcome no matter what he does afterward.

The other option for Floyd is seemingly to leave his testing demands intact and let the fight slip away over the next few days. From there he will probably make chump change against the decent but beneath him Matthew Hatton, which few people want to see.

He also faces the prospect of being dragged through the courts by Pacquiao, who intends to sue him for slander/defamation of character or some similar legal term which will only take up time and cost both of the money. If Floyd loses, then he may well even end up paying out more than he can make against the likes of the younger Hatton.

If Floyd is really just stalling for time, and wants a tune up fight before taking on Pacquiao later on in the year, he should just come out and say it, and clear the air about the implied steroid accusations. There isn't any reason the fight still can't be signed and sealed for a later date if both parties can get past all the problems and agree to keep the more opinionated from either camp quiet with their thoughts about either fighter.

Source: Examiner.com

IS SHANE MOSLEY NEXT TO GET THE PACQUIAO TREATMENT?

By G. Leon

Even though Golden Boy Promotions still has a contractual interest in Manny Pacquiao, they have dilligently been working on behalf of Floyd Mayweather Jr demanding that Pacquiao undergo PED testing not normally required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Although it's not the steak and potatoes of this piece, it is ironic that some of the involved parties wanted this fight to take place in Las Vegas so badly that they dusted off Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his $25M offer to host the fight in his state of the art stadium that can comfortably hold more than 100,000 people. Then before you can say steroids, the Mayweather camp virtually dubs the Vegas Commission a bunch of inept cavemen with prehistoric testing methods. Is Sugar Shane Mosley, a partner of Golden Boy Promotions the next in house target? Based on how well Schaefer has followed Mayweather's marching orders on the Pacquiao fight, are we nuts for thinking, he'd instruct Mosley that in order for him to fight Mayweather additional "random" testing would be necessary? If that's the case, it might be a while before we see Floyd in a fight we care about.

Will Al Haymon give Andre Berto the Mayweather treatment and advise him that requesting addition PED testing would be in his best interest? Don't hold your breath. After all, HBO has guaranteed Berto a Urango like comeback fight should he lose to Mosley, so I guess there's no rush to red-flag Mosley.

Coming Soon: Boxing's R&R Program. Not rest and relaxation, RUINED AND RECYCLED, starring nearly all of the talent HBO dubbed the next generation.

Source: boxingtalk.com