 Mayweather (left) and Pacquiao were set to split around $100m |
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr have been ordered to submit to urine tests within 48 hours by the Nevada State Athletic commission. The pair were due to meet in Las Vegas on 13 March but negotiations for the fight stalled last week because of a row over blood testing. The two boxers must submit to the tests or face possible fines or suspension by the Nevada regulator. The pair are feuding over random drug testing in the run-up to the fight. Pacquiao's camp is against random tests in the 30 days prior to the fight, the Filipino claiming losing blood weakens him, while Mayweather's team is insistent upon them.  | BEN DIRS' BLOG |
The Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer is hoping the urine test demand might help end the impasse between the two sides. "We're always hopeful that when we do drug testing it comes back negative," said Kizer said. "I don't know if this will help the chances of the fight happening. But with all this talk of drug tests, let's actually do one." Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum had wanted the Nevada Commission to rule on the matter and asked for a hearing on 19 January. He also said that if Mayweather's camp did not agree to allow Nevada officials to decide when and how to conduct blood tests, he would sign a deal for Pacquiao to face Paulie Malignaggi instead.  | 606: DEBATE |
However, in a new twist on Monday, Arum said he would ask Pacquiao to reconsider his objection to blood testing after Mayweather's camp highlighted footage from a television documentary which showed the Filipino giving blood before his fight with Ricky Hatton earlier this year. Mayweather's camp said the scene was filmed just 14 days before the fight - a fact Arum said he wanted to verify before speaking to his fighter. "I will transmit it to Manny once [HBO Sports president] Ross Greenburg establishes the actual date of the test... and [the Mayweather camp] makes a proposal based on what Ross has come up with," Arum told ESPN.com. "If that happens, I am sure I can convince Manny," he added. Earlier, Mayweather's manager Leonard Ellerbe had said: "If he's unwilling to do random blood and urine it's a nonstarter. "He knows that. If they want to walk away from the richest fight in the history of the sport, that's their decision." Pacquiao has said he will file a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather for accusing him of taking performance-enhancing drugs. If the blood feud does cancel the bout in Las Vegas in March, there is a chance it could be staged later this year, but that is not likely to take place until after each fighter has met another opponent in the ring. Pacquiao, 31, became a five-weight world champion following his WBO welterweight title win over Miguel Cotto in November, while Las Vegas-based Mayweather returned from a 21-month retirement to beat Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in September.
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