By Alston H Borrel
I must say that I’m ecstatic that Bob Arum failed to persuade Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao under his No-Drug Testing/Reduce Drug Testing Terms and Schedule. However, I’m sure that there are plenty of hungry fighters out there, such as their current target, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, who need the money so desperately, that they will be willing to sign a contract under the Arum/Pacquiao terms and schedule, regardless of the cost to themselves or the sport of Boxing.
Unfortunately for them, these Boxers don’t have the luxury of standing up for the integrity of Boxing like Mayweather can, and therefore Bob Arum will undoubtedly be able to purchase their services, under conditions favorable to himself and Manny Pacquiao.
I must give promoter Bob Arum credit though for holding a slick press conference on the morning of July 17, in which he tried his best to appear to be sympathetic to Mayweather’s situation, while pointing his fingers directly at Mayweather, as the cause for their not being a fight between him and Pacquiao, every opportunity he got.
One of the more amusing moments of Bob Arum’s news conference came when reporters asked… Do you think if the fight is not made it will have a negative impact on the sport? Bob replied…” Wait a second I am sure, without knowing, I am sure that there is a very good reason that Floyd Mayweather has for not committing to a fight at this time. I really and truly believe that. Now I am speculating that one of the reasons could be the uncertainty regarding Roger Mayweather and for people that don’t know, Roger Mayweather is scheduled for court in Nevada regarding criminal charges. Now I know how Manny would feel if he had to go into a fight like this without the services of Freddie Roach and presumably Floyd would feel the same way going into a fight like this without the services of his uncle Roger who has been training him for a number of years”.
Here Bob is making sure that the world knows that Floyd’s uncle , Roger, is facing serious criminal charges, which should serve to further stigmatize Floyd and make Manny the more likeable in the eyes of the reporters present.
Then there was this from Bob when asked… Do you believe the fight will happen? “It would be a shame if it didn’t happen. I don’t think any of you guys should be too harsh on Floyd in this situation. I would have liked for him to communicate, but I really believe that this issue with the uncle has an effect. I would think that, putting myself in their shoes, that there would be a lot of reluctance of going into this big fight without my trainer. We are not going to know the outcome of this criminal situation for some time. “
Slick, right, here Bob is using reverse psychology to direct the reporters to slam Mayweather to the maximum for not committing to his and Manny Pacquiao’s fight terms and schedule…good try, but I’m not fooled nor amused, Bob.
The truth is, folks, Manny Pacquiao has never agreed to be Olympic Style Drug Tested, in order to fight Mayweather, and he never will agree to such testing. Those of you who watched or read excerpts from the news conference would remember that when Bob Arum was asked the question… What about the drug testing issue? He replied this way…”I don’t want to get into specifics but I think that issue was resolved. Not as clear-cut as you may be saying it, but I believe it was resolved.”
What? No specifics, but I think that the issue was resolved, but not as clear-cut as you may be saying it? Folks, I don’t know about you, but that type of cagey answer clearly suggests to me that Manny never agreed to Full Olympic Style Drug Testing, and if he hasn’t agreed by now, he never will…case closed!
My congratulation goes out to Floyd Mayweather for resisting the pressures of crocked promoters and sticking to his stated principles of not fighting dirty fighters.
I also congratulate Mayweather for capturing the ESPY Award for Best Fighter in 2010, his third such award and most importantly for the humanitarian work that he is doing with his Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation. The “Fight for Our Future” benefit dinner back in March 2010 and the two July 2010 Twitter Scavenger Hunts, which raised an estimated $20,000 will indeed be a major shot in the arm for the people of Las Vegas who will benefit through various program in the areas of education, community outreach, mentoring, and youth summer camps and more.
Follow me on Twitter @Arouca09
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