MANILA, Philippines - Kung ang pagsailalim sa isang Olympic-style blood testing ang pag-uusapan, hindi na ito dapat maging dahilan ni Floyd Mayweather, Jr. para muling atrasan si Manny Pacquiao.
Sa panayam ng Los Angeles Times kahapon, sinabi ni Bob Arum ng Top Rank Promotions na pangangatawanan na ng Filipino world seven-division champion ang pagpayag nito sa pagsailalim sa isang pre-fight blood test 14 araw bago ang kanilang banggaan ni Mayweather.
Nauna nang itinakda ni Arum ang pinaplantsang megafight nina Pacquiao at Mayweather sa Nobyembre 13 sa MGM Grand sa Las Vegas, Nevada.
“We don’t care who’s doing the test,” wika ni Arum. “They stopped taking blood 18 days before (Mayweather-Mosley), so that shows they can do it and be fine.”
Sinabi naman ni Travis Tygart, ang pinuno ng U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, na ang isinagawang blood testing kina Mayweather at Sugar Shane Mosley ay pinagkasunduan ng dalawa hanggang sa araw ng kanilang laban.
“There was no restriction on when or how we could test,” ani Tygart. “We did not need to draw blood two weeks before the fight for several reasons, including the number of blood samples we’d already taken, the samples we were able to save, and the fact that no other information had been given to us that would lead us to test again.”
Ang blood testing bago ang kanilang laban na ipinilit ni Mayweather ang inayawan ni Pacquiao na nagresulta sa pagkakabasura ng naunang negosasyon ng Top Rank at Golden Boy Promotions.
“We’re saying the same thing, that if there’s information that emerges in the final 14 days, we can go to the (state boxing) commission and ask for more tests. We can work it out. No one’s looking to pull any fast ones,” wika ni Arum.
Hinihintay pa rin ni Arum ang sagot ni Mayweather hinggil sa naipadala na nilang fight contract.