Arum makes final push to salvage bout
Promoter Bob Arum delivered what he said would be his last proposal Sunday to salvage the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., which has been on life support over a blood-testing dispute.
Under Arum’s proposal, the Nevada Athletic Commission would have the final say in how much testing there would be for the fight and when it would take place. Preparations for the fight would go forward, and there would be three blood tests — none within 30 days of the fight — unless the commission decided otherwise at a mid-January meeting.
“We will go along with what the Nevada commission decides. We will give them a blank check,” Arum said. “We want this fight to go forward.”
Arum said Pacquiao’s side would go no further than the proposal and that he will begin negotiations today with Paul Malignaggi for the March 13 date on which the megafight was supposed to take place.
The position is tougher than earlier statements by those in Pacquiao’s camp that there could be a compromise on blood testing if it is not done by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and in the final days before the fight. It leaves the fate of the fight in jeopardy since there likely would be little appetite by Nevada regulators to go beyond the urine tests now required by state law.
The director of the Nevada commission and Mayweather’s representatives did not immediately return phone calls Sunday.
All other issues were resolved earlier, but the nasty dispute over attempts by Mayweather’s camp to introduce stringent blood testing to pro boxing for the first time make it increasingly unlikely it will happen.
Mayweather’s representatives backed off their insistence on using the USADA over the weekend but continued to insist on random blood and urine tests with a cutoff date mutually agreeable to both sides.
Pacquiao’s camp seemed willing to agree to that up until the past few days when the conversation turned from testing to slander lawsuits against those alleging that Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs to move up in weight to win titles in seven weight classes.
“It’s all either a smoke screen because Mayweather doesn’t want to do the fight or an attempt by (Mayweather promoter) Richard Schaefer to smear Manny Pacquiao,” Arum said. “We will deal with that legally.”
Coincidentally, Malignaggi is one of those who has suggested in interviews that Pacquiao must have used something to be able to dominate fighters in the higher weight classes.
If the fight is not held March 13, there still is a chance it could happen in September after the two have other fights.