Floyd Mayweather wants everyone to know that there is a reason why he is the way he is. Sure, some think that he’s just mindlessly repeating himself for no reason in regards to his suspicions that Manny Pacquiao has abused performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) at some point in his career. But, alas, this is not the case.
Rather, Mayweather is simply following through on suspicions that he has had for a long time about his Filipino counterpart, and what others in the sport have told him.
“Do your research. I talk to Mosley. Mosley is a guy, in his past, he used enhancement drugs, or whatever y'all want to call it," Mayweather said. "I talked to him after his fight with the guy and he said, 'Floyd, if I was you, I'd make him take the test.'”
To be fair to Mayweather, he isn’t the first or only fighter to have ever alluded to Pacquiao’s meteoric rise up the boxing hierarchy being a byproduct of PEDs. After being soundly beaten by the Filipino superstar, Ricky Hatton famously expressed some suspicions regarding how natural Pacquiao’s progression as a boxer truly was. And, of course, there have been countless pundits who have speculated on the validity of Mayweather’s concerns (most notably Teddy Atlas), although none have gone so far as to actually accuse him of juicing.
That cautiousness eludes Mayweather, though, who continues to be very open and honest regarding why he’s suspicious of his arch rival.
Here is what the undefeated champion -- who is slated to face Victor Ortiz on September 17 at the MGM Grand -- had to say regarding his uncertainties about Pacquiao:
"When you see an athlete like Michael Jordan in college, you see he's going to be great," Mayweather said. "When you see LeBron James, you say he's going to be great. You see (Muhammad) Ali, you see Sugar Ray Leonard, you see all these fighters, even myself, you say from the beginning, he's going to be great. A guy doesn't (turn) 24 or 25 and just become great.
"I know what happens in this sport. A guy don't all of the sudden get to a certain age and just become good," Mayweather said. "Certain years, where was this guy at? He all of the sudden just pop up, become good and just punching hard out of the blue? C'mon, man. Make this make sense."
In essence, Mayweather is asking why Pacquiao became as dominant as he did towards the latter point of his career. It’s a valid question, obviously, and one that has been posed several times in the past. Opposing Views actually tackled it back when we were explaining why Pacquiao would destroy Juan Manuel Marquez on their third go-around.
Nevertheless, even if you disagree with any one theory on why Pacquiao has become as great as he has, accusing him of PED abuse takes things in a whole other, very negative direction. And that, precisely, is why Mayweather has been met with such a poor reaction as he has continuously tried to paint Manny as the poster child of juicing in boxing.
It’s also why the dream match that everyone is pining away for is becoming more and more of a pipe dream with every passing day.
Maybe Mayweather, in his heart of hearts, really believes that Pacquiao is on steroids. Perhaps he feels like he’s staying true to himself by continuing down this path of incessant direct and indirect accusations. At some point, though, you would think that he’d realize he’s doing himself a huge disservice. He’s like the boy that cried wolf one too many times, and now, everyone has completely tuned him out.
The more Mayweather bangs the drum on this particular issue, the pettier he makes himself look.
Floyd just has to make up his mind. There are only two options for him here. Either fight or don’t fight. But either way, stop talking about it and do something about it.
Tomorrow is your big day Junior. You'll get knock out by Ortiz in 6.
As if the real issue really is Pacquiao on PED. These bloggers always makes these type articles pretending to be somewhat in Pacquiao's side or neutral while slipping in an insinuation on Pacquiao at the same time but actually it is to disparage Pacquiao. As if this will take away people's mind off that it is really about Mayweather's way on dodging Pacquiao. People know the PED or blood test is a non-issue. USADA is under WADA. Pacquiao is willing to take the test "randomly" through WADA while in traning in the Philippines and will then take it under USADA while trianing in the States. Does any body ever wonder why is it always the Pacquiao's team the one who initializes the offer. And with it each time Pacquiao agree with Floyd's offer he changes it again and again until it is ridiculous enough that the Pacquiao team can no longer say yes to it. This then will be played in the media that Pacquiao's team would not come to an agreement. The new twist now in Mayweather's demand is for Pacquiao to train in the States the whole time. Does this mean now that all fighters in other countries have to do the same because due to a demand of another boxer. Are they also to be expected not to make their own demands likewise.
Take USDA Testing. Why not?
Take USDA Testing. Why not?