After Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao first started to negotiate a super fight in 2009, the Filipino had enough.
He sued Mayweather for defamation after Mayweather suggested Pacquiao had used performance-enhancing drugs, and the case was eventually settled out of court in later that year.
They finally fought in May, of course, with Mayweather handily winning on the cards. Case closed, right? An SB Nation report emerged Wednesday, though, that cast a cloud of suspicion over the bout. According to the article, Mayweather received a intravenous mix of saline and vitamins. The substance is not banned, but such IV infusions are prohibited by international guidelines before competition.
USADA, which oversaw drug testing for the bout, granted Mayweather a therapeutic-use exemption more than two weeks after the fight, a move that caught the ire of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. Pacquiao, though, isn’t angry. He’s relieved.
“Truth finally came out and I was vindicated,” he told the Philippine Star. “Mayweather came used to accused (sic) me of using PED. Now, look at what happened. I hope Floyd Mayweather would learn a good lesson out of it.”
Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s longtime advisor, was none too pleased with what was detailed in the article, especially since his fighter was denied a Toradol injection for a torn rotator cuff.
“Manny’s right, the truth came out, and I’m just surprised that the commission was so harsh on us when we thought we complied to have the shot and they denied it flatly and rudely and yet there’s this Mayweather incident,” Koncz told USA TODAY Sports during a phone interview Thursday.
“I don’t want to say too much because we have to still fight in Vegas, but it doesn’t seem fair and it doesn’t seem right that they would be so harsh on us when we told USADA with ample time. It’s very disheartening. We have fans in Vegas, the city of Vegas is good to us.”
Mayweather denied any wrongdoing in a statement released on Thursday:
“As already confirmed by the USADA Statement, I did not commit any violations of the Nevada or USADA drug testing guidelines. I follow and have always followed the rules of Nevada and USADA, the gold standard of drug testing. Let’s not forget that I was the one six years ago who insisted on elevating the level of drug testing for all my fights.
“As a result, there is more drug testing and awareness of its importance in the sport of boxing today than ever before. I am very proud to be a clean athlete and will continue to champion the cause.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) is unhappy that it wasn’t informed of the IV infusion until weeks after it was administered, and executive director Bob Bennett expressed frustration with USADA.
“The TUE for Mayweather’s IV — and the IV was administered at Floyd’s house, not in a medical facility, and wasn’t brought to our attention at the time — was totally unacceptable,” Bennett told SB Nation. “I’ve made it clear to (USADA CEO) Travis Tygart that this should not happen again. We have the sole authority to grant any and all TUEs in the state of Nevada. USADA is a drug-testing agency. USADA should not be granting waivers and exemptions. Not in this state. We are less than pleased that USADA acted the way it did.”
There was also confusion with the Toradol injection Pacquiao requested the night of the fight. Pacquio’s camp maintains they informed USADA well in advance they would need the painkiller that Saturday, but the commission says it was never informed, and that all requests had to be go through the NSAC anyway.
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