Pacquiao camp reacts to Mayweather's illegal IV use

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao’s camp obviously did not like the news that Floyd Mayweather Jr. took intravenous shots of vitamins before taking on the Filipino icon last May, a practice that was deemed illegal.

The revelation, which was made in an in-depth sbnation.com article by Thomas Hauser, had some key personalities in Pacquiao’s camp scratching their heads in disbelief and displeasure.

According to Hauser’s report, Mayweather took IV injections containing a mixture of 250 milliliters of saline and multivitamins and a 500-milliliter mixture of saline and Vitamin C – way over the 50 milliliters per six hours allowed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

WADA rules are the ones followed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which was in charge of random drug tests on Mayweather and Pacquiao for their megabuck showdown last May 5 in Las Vegas.

In Hauser’s report, however, USADA retroactively granted Mayweather a therapeutic use exemption for the injections 18 days after the fight. Ironically, Pacquiao’s request to take anti-inflammatory shots for his injured shoulder was denied.

"I find it ironic. We tried to get an injection that was totally legal before the fight and the commission slams us and then this thing with Mayweather happens," Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael.

Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in boxing’s richest fight ever, but the bout did not live up to the hype and is hounded by another controversy.

"We need to fight in Vegas again so I don't want to make many more comments but it is unusual and it was never disclosed to us until quite a ways after the fight,” Koncz continued.

"Maybe the best thing for Floyd to do is have a rematch with Manny. But we were shocked by [the TUE]. It shouldn't have happened," he added.

For his part, Top Rank chief Bob Arum expressed his dismay over the news.

"USADA has a lot of explaining to do," Arum said in the same ESPN.com report. "When we learned about this I was outraged. But I can't just bay at the moon. What legal redress do we have? I have the information, our lawyers got it, but what were we supposed to do with it? Ask for the decision to be reversed? I really think people have to look closely at USADA and investigate what's going on with them."

"Our lawyers told us that the information transmitted to us was confidential and we were not allowed to disseminate it, so based on that advice we said nothing [until it came out]," Arum added.

USADA and Mayweather, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing in separate statements.

"As already confirmed by the USADA statement, I did not commit any violations of the Nevada or USADA drug testing guidelines," Mayweather said in his statement. "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," added Mayweather, who faces Andre Berto on Sunday in what he claims as his last fight.

Interestingly, it was Mayweather who had been persistent on having random drug tests conducted for his fights. It was a central issue in negotiations for his duel with Pacquiao, whom at one point was accused by Mayweather himself of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Pacquiao took Mayweather to court for defamation, a case that was settled for an undisclosed amount. Asked about the latest development, the Filipino icon said he was vindicated.

"Truth finally came out and I was vindicated. Mayweather camp used to accuse me of using PEDs,” Pacquiao told The STAR’s Abac Cordero.

"Now look at what happened. I hope Floyd Mayweather would learn a good lesson out of it."