Will We See Manny Pacquiao And Floyd Mayweather Finally Fight?

If he wants to fight it’s not that hard to find me. We tried to fight before and it didn’t work, and we moved on. Mosley did what I asked him to do and if every athlete in the sport would do that, we know we would have a clean sport. Everyone should take the test. I am willing to take the tests. If Manny takes the test we can make the fight happen. If he doesn’t we don’t have a fight.

Those were the words of Floyd Mayweather after Larry Merchant asked him about a possible fight with Manny Pacquiao.

If you remember last year, the super fight that everyone wanted to see, Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, was very close to happening. Based on negotiations, Mayweather was aggressive in wanting one thing for Pacquiao to agree to – random, Olympic style blood-testing.

He agreed to many things Team Pacquiao wanted, including a ridiculous fine if Mayweather was to come in over weight. If the thought was that Mayweather simply wanted to make Pacquiao sweat and look badly if he said no, those thoughts should’ve been disproved based on Shane Mosley agreeing to those same demands.

Those negotiations broke down because Team Mayweather wouldn’t fight without the blood-testing and Team Pacquiao wouldn’t fight with it.

There is no doubt that we saw a clean Shane Mosley fight a clean Floyd Mayweather last night. And from everyone I talk to, that’s what sports fans want to see. They want to know that the athletes they are paying to watch aren’t juiced up. To me, I care less about the morality of the issue and more about the health of the fighters when it comes to steroids or HGH (human growth hormone). They are dangerous drugs.

I never thought Manny Pacquiao was a steroid abuser and I don’t really think he is today. However, when he turned down Mayweather’s request for blood-testing because of silly excuses like that he doesn’t like his blood drawn, it did give me some doubt. The problem with making excuses when it comes to something like random blood-testing is that it’s a complete and level playing field. Mayweather wasn’t expecting Paquiao to do something he wasn’t going to do himself. Whatever issues Pacquiao would have with the testing, Mayweather would go through the same ordeal.

What many people don’t understand is what Mayweather’s drawing card is. The entire reason that Floyd Mayweather is one of the best at marketing himself in professional sports today is because of that zero in his loss column. His entire identity is based around being undefeated because it’s an easily definable way to say that you are the best. Fans want to see the best. Fans jump on bandwagons of teams that are the best. Mayweather’s brash personality adds to his marketability because we all have friends or family who are good at things and let us know about it.

Pacquiao’s marketability is a bit different. This new version of Manny Pacquiao seems indestructible based on how he beats up fighters. He chops them down to size and punches through them. His work rate is tremendous and he combines speed and power better than any fighter going today. But he’s lost before. And if he loses again, his ability to market himself won’t drop all that much because we pay to see him entertain like no other fighter going today. We pay to see Floyd to see one of the greatest tacticians ever do his thing.

It makes all the sense in the world for Floyd Mayweather to protect his zero. That’s how he makes money. And if he truly believes that the sport of boxing is on an uneven playing field and he refuses to join that playing field, you tip your cap to him. The thing that most people don’t understand is that the fighters know best. Much like the pro wrestling and MMA culture within the fighters themselves, boxers probably have a good idea on who is cheating and who isn’t.

Many people argue that what’s good for the Nevada State Athletic Commission should be good enough for the fighters, yet what those people don’t understand is the science behind the drugs themselves. State commissions only test urine and the time tables in which they test urine are predictable. There is currently no urine test that tests for HGH which right then and there should make state athletic commissions obsolete when it comes to ruling on drug tests. Also, when you have a predictable drug testing schedule without a hint of randomness, it becomes an IQ test for athletes who are using to base their usage around those tests.

For instance, let me give you an idea how an athlete would get around a drug test. Let’s say that Glass Joe has a fight in Las Vegas. Based on prior fights in Las Vegas, Glass Joe knows that he will be tested six weeks out before the fight, right before the fight, and right after the fight. Glass Joe knows that he can take as much HGH that he wants if that’s his drug of choice because they don’t test for that, but he also knows that if he wants to take an anabolic steroid, he just has to make sure the steroid is out of his system six weeks out before the fight and right before the fight.

Based on what kind of steroid Glass Joe enjoys, the timing can be different. But let’s say that Glass Joe enjoys steroid X which only takes 3-5 days to clear his system. He simply has to make sure that he stops taking steroid X one week before his first test, and one week before the fight. In between those two times, he can juice up as much as he wants and as long as he stops taking it one week before the fight, he’ll test clean. Is he really clean? No. But he’ll test clean.

Now, I’m in no way incriminating Manny Pacquiao and again, I don’t know that I even think he’s taking anything. But when Team Pacquiao is saying that whatever the Nevada State Athletic Commission abides by should be the rule, that’s the drug testing that they are standing behind.

Now, back to the question at hand. Will this fight take place? I say yes, which is a definite change of opinion for me. Because of how much money is involved in the fight, I do think it will happen. One side will crumble. If you are interested in seeing as clean a fight as possible, you hope that Pacquiao’s side is the one that gives in.

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