Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao recently held their first press conference (video replay) to promote their upcoming boxing "mega fight," which goes down on May 2, 2015 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But even though contracts have already been signed, one side is still negotiating.
According to boxing journalist Dan Rafael, Pacquiao's team proposed a side agreement: If either of the two boxing icons failed a drug test before or after their fight, the offender would be hit with a $5 million financial penalty.
And though he has long been an advocate for stricter drug testing and the penalties that come with it -- especially when it came to fighting "Pac Man" -- Mayweather is not having it.
Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz called Mayweather's refusal "disheartening."
"Michael Koncz is an idiot, and Manny Pacquiao should be ashamed to have him as his representative," Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions told ESPN.com. "It's obvious he didn't read the contract. Why would he have his fighter sign something he was not happy with? The deal was negotiated up and down by his promoter on behalf of Manny with Floyd and Mayweather Promotions, and it's been well documented in the media for quite some time. If this moron didn't convey his fighter's wishes when the negotiation was going on, that's their problem. This is a lame-ass attempt to generate publicity."
Ouch.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) will subject both fighters to in- and out-of-competition screenings for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), which will include blood and urine tests (as well as CIR and EPO) under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code (details).
Should either one of them fail, they will be banned from the sport for a term of no less than four years, something Mayeweather agreed to.
So, the fact that Floyd didn't agree to the additional $5 million penalty could raise more than a few eyebrows. But, it could simply be that "The Money Team" didn't want to give the Pacquiao camp the satisfaction of bending to one of their stipulations.
Nevertheless, the show will go on.
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