Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants Manny Pacquiao to take the test.
Yes, again.
While hard at work -- preparing for his upcoming September 17 bout against Victor Ortiz -- Mayweather decided to take a pause for the cause and remind everyone that he is the guy who stands for performance-enhancing drug (PED) purity in boxing. That he, above all others, is the hero who will take the sport into levels of cleanliness and greatness.
Speaking with ESNNewsReporting.com, Mayweather adamantly said the following:
“I’m an American citizen and I want the American citizens to stand behind me. If you are the best, step up and take the test. That’s all I’m saying. If you don’t have nothing to hide, take the test. I represent this country and I want this country to get behind me. There’s no country like America, so whoever’s facing Floyd Mayweather, tell them they have to step up and take the test.”
What America and the rest of Mayweather’s PED rant have in common is anyone’s guess, but that’s Pretty Boy Floyd for you. No filter, zero censorship, nonstop rambling every single day and twice on Sundays.
It’s actually gotten to the point of being a little said, really, because Mayweather appears completely out of touch with the reality of the situation. In something like two year’s time, he’s gone from the guy you love to hate to the guy you just kind of hate. All of his lovable quirks have gotten a old, and this ridiculous drum about steroid testing that he keeps banging on is as tedious at this point as it is nonsensical.
We get it, he thinks Pacquiao is juicing. Fine. But how many times does the same thing have to be repeated?
Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, came out a few months ago and said that all signs pointed to a Pacquiao v. Mayweather megafight so long as the former didn’t have to deal with USADA for the drug testing. It was a ludicrous request, and Arum appears to have come off of it slightly. Now, however, there are murmurs that money -- which was supposedly no longer an issue just a month ago -- is sticking point as well.
In the same interview, Mayweather was then asked about what he anticipated Ortiz would bring to the table when the pair met up this month.
“I can’t really say what Ortiz brings to the table,” he replied. “If I knew, I would have fought him a long time ago, but he was too young then. But he brings power. Of course he’s ten years younger than I am so of course he feels like age is on his side. But I never took no abuse in the sport of boxing; I don’t think it’s a good thing, it’s a great thing.”
Many spectators (including Pacquiao) firmly believe that Mayweather is using Ortiz as a tune-up of sorts for a potential superfight against his Filipino nemesis. That's the hope.
Then again, if we’re back to this drug testing stuff, maybe we're just setting ourselves up for yet another disappointment.