Mayweather v Pacquiao bout off says promoter

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – The WBO welterweight title bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao next March will not go ahead due to the American's demands for Olympic-style dope testing procedures, promoter Bob Arum said on Wednesday.

Arum, who represents the Filipino champion, said using blood tests for the highly anticipated fight on March 13 was unprecedented for professional fights in Las Vegas.

"As far as I'm concerned, the fight is off," Arum told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We don't object to more extensive drug testing, even though it's certainly not required in Nevada.

"What we're saying is that the drug testing he is proposing is intrusive and would disturb Pacquiao's training if it's done within 30 days of his fight."

Pacquiao had agreed to have blood taken for testing before the initial media conference and after the fight but would not agree to have blood drawn within 30 days of the bout.

TESTING DEMANDS

Mayweather's camp, represented by Golden Boy Promotions, has called for random blood and urine sampling prior to and after the fight as mandated by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency.

Arum suggested the testing demands by Mayweather were the American's way of ducking the fight.

"My gut feeling is Mayweather doesn't want to do the fight and this is his excuse. Period."

Pacquiao was to defend the World Boxing Organization title he won in November by stopping holder Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in Las Vegas for his unprecedented seventh title in seven weight classes.

The best pound-for-pound showdown between Pacquiao (50-3-2) and unbeaten Mayweather (40-0) was expected to be among boxing's biggest revenue-producing fights.

Arum said he could not agree with the testing demands as a matter of protection for Pacquiao, who believes blood testing would weaken him that close to a bout.

The promoter said more extensive testing agreeable to Pacquiao could have been arranged.

"We're saying let's use the drug testing agencies that test athletes in the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball because they are used to dealing with professional athletes, and they take random urinalysis.

"That is far less intrusive than taking blood which has an effect on the athlete because it's not just a prick of a pin, but actually drawing an extensive amount of blood."

Arum said he was not confident about a compromise, seeing Mayweather's blood-testing demands as a way to "sabotage" the bout.

Source: YahooSports

Mayweather-Pacquiao fight nearly finalized

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The much-anticipated bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is all but set for March 13, a source told Yahoo! Sports.

Mayweather has agreed to terms and promoter Bob Arum is making a trip to Manila, Philippines, to finalize a deal with Pacquiao, the source said.

Las Vegas, Dallas and New Orleans are the front-runners to host the bout, which is expected to become the highest-grossing boxing match in the sport’s history.

Pacquiao is the top pound-for-pound fighter in nearly every major ranking, including Yahoo! Sports. Mayweather is No. 2 in most rankings and was No. 1 in nearly all of the polls before he briefly retired in June 2008.

Pacquiao is coming off a 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, a bout in which he won the World Boxing Organization welterweight championship and erased fears that he is not a legitimate welterweight.

Cotto was a legitimate welterweight in his prime and Pacquiao dominated, knocking him down twice and cruising to the one-sided victory.

Mayweather routed Juan Manuel Marquez, who had previously been ranked No. 2 in the Yahoo! Sports poll, in a Sept. 19 fight at the MGM Grand.

The public demand for the fight has been enormous, putting pressure on Arum and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who represents Mayweather, to get a deal done.

Promoters had targeted May 1 for the fight almost from the moment that Pacquiao stopped Cotto. But Pacquiao filed Tuesday to run for Congress in the Philippines and the election will be held on May 10.

Given that, the bout with Mayweather had to be moved up to March 13 or pushed back until September.

Though there were reports that Arum was considering matching Pacquiao with new WBO super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman on March 13 in Dallas, that was a diversionary move and was never serious, the source said.

A survey team from Top Rank will inspect Dallas Cowboys Stadium as a possible venue. The MGM Grand Garden Arena and the New Orleans Superdome are also in the running to host the mega-fight, the source said.

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