1R's Take: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

1R's take on why Manny Pacquiao won't submit to drug testing.

Okay, so Mayweather v. Ortiz fight was weird/lousy/disappointing. But what was readily apparent in four rounds was that Floyd was significantly more talented, and that there’s still really only one fight everyone wants to see. But why won’t Floyd fight Pacquiao?

We're sure there are a bunch of other reasons, but the primary one is Pacquiao won't agree to blood testing leading up to the fight. Why? Well, NFL players don't want stringent HGH testing because the vast majority of them use HGH. It would seem fair to say that the same logic carries through here. If it's the fight everyone wants to see, and you claim not to use performance-enhancing substances, why not then submit to drug testing (especially considering that there are tens of millions of dollars on the line)?

When you dig deeper perhaps there’s some credence to the conspiracy theory. A Pacquiao sparring partner has previously claimed to have regularly injecting him (Pacquiao) with steroids leading up to his fights with Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.

”Once a week, right in the locker room of the Wild Card (Gym) Manny would drop his shorts and clench his teeth, and I would give him a jab in the upper outer quarter of his butt cheek. He hated every shot.”

The allegations also claimed that Pacquiao’s drugs were changed from regular steroids to a far less detectable combination of HGH and insulin after Floyd Mayweather began pointing the finger and making suggestions that Pacquiao’s almost super human ring achievements may not be all attributable to natural ability.

Whether you believe the claims or not, the point is that all serious athletes work hard. But when we start allowing and rewarding athletes for work that perhaps is not really their own, it becomes a slippery slope. You don’t have to like Floyd, but there's no reason to not agree to blood testing if there's nothing to hide….