Floyd Mayweather, JR., Manny Pacquiao, PEDs & THE STATE OF BOXING

By Geno McGahee

This Saturday, Manny Pacquiao will step into the ring to take on Timothy Bradley in a high profile showdown. What makes this fight important is what Pacquiao stands to lose should he walk away with a defeat.

The fight that has been dangled over the fight fans’ heads could lose all of its dwindling appeal. The Pacquiao – Mayweather, JR., fight has been the most highly anticipated fight in recent history, but the two could never agree on the terms. At one point, they agreed to a 50/50 split, but Manny would not agree to the terms of drug testing. There have been recurring rumors that Manny is using PEDs and Floyd demands his opponents to be clean should they step into the ring with him. Manny said that he was afraid of needles…that the random testing would drain him, and then the fight fell apart. It made many boxing fans scratch their head and wonder if the Filipino fighter was hiding something.

With the recent positive tests of top fighters Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto, the attention has turned back to the game. Boxing is always the most disrespected sport in the world due to the lack of organization and corruption. Cheaters don’t win and winners don’t cheat does not apply to this game. Antonio Margarito was rewarded with multi-million dollar paydays for loading his gloves with plaster of Paris and nearly killing Miguel Cotto and others. Boxing has always been run by the criminals. In the 1950s, the mafia had a grasp on it and the dirty promoters have picked up where they left off.

Bob Arum, a man that was disgusted by what happened to Billy Collins, said that Luis Resto, a man that was found guilty of removing padding from his gloves, should never fight again, but when Margarito was guilty of the basic same thing, he fought in his defense. He went so far as to say that racism was involved in Margarito’s suspension.

Arum is also responsible for playing defense. He is keeping Pacquiao far away from Mayweather, JR. Arum may be a lot of things, but dumb is not one of them. He knows that Pacquiao wouldn’t have much of a chance against Floyd and once Manny loses, the PPV entity that he is won’t have as much drawing power. He wants to play it safe and that is why we have Timothy Bradley and not Floyd Mayweather, JR., standing across the ring.

Chinks in the armor of Manny Pacquiao have come out lately, including accusations of infidelity, gambling problems, and some commentary about homosexuals and gay marriage. He is not the darling of the sports pages anymore and I would wager that many Pacquiao fans will be cheering for the underdog on Saturday night.

The question must be asked again: What is Manny hiding? It is obvious that his persona of “good guy” was a creation of his promotional team…the same way that Mike Tyson was initially viewed as a good guy that got a break and made nice with the world when he was still on the streets beating people up and mugging old ladies. If Pacquiao has these problems with his character, you cannot disqualify the possibility that he would cheat to win.

Love it or hate it, Floyd Mayweather, JR., is 100% correct. He should not fight Manny unless he gets tested for PEDs. With Berto and Peterson coming up dirty and they reside on the top of the sport, Floyd has every right to be concerned about what he is facing inside of the ring. Boxing needs to clean its act up and Floyd has been the man that is initiating the idea. Why some oppose it will have to be examined. What do they have to hide?