KAPALUA, Hawaii, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Talks over the hotly anticipated welterweight bout between Filipino Manny Pacquiao and American Floyd Mayweather Jr. were aborted on Wednesday after promoters failed to reach an agreement.

“No deal was reached and Manny is moving on,” communications expert Fred Sternburg told Reuters on behalf of Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum.

Sternburg said the respective parties could not settle their differences after nine hours of mediation on Tuesday followed by further discussions on Wednesday.

The World Boxing Organisation welterweight title bout was thrown into doubt last month when Mayweather demanded Olympic-style dope testing, a request rejected by Pacquiao.

Mayweather’s camp had called for random blood and urine sampling prior to and after the proposed March 13 fight as mandated by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency.

Pacquiao agreed to have blood taken for testing before the initial media conference and immediately after the fight but would not agree to have blood drawn within 30 days of the bout.

On Dec. 28, Arum said he would announce a new opponent for the Filipino southpaw but just hours later he backtracked, saying he would ask the boxer to reconsider his objection to blood testing.

Pacquiao (50-3-2) had been scheduled to defend the WBO title he won in November by stopping holder Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao won an unprecedented seventh title in seven weight classes to set up the best pound-for-pound showdown against unbeaten Mayweather (40-0) in what was widely expected to be boxing’s biggest revenue-producing fight.

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In a last-ditch effort to save the proposed March 13 megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, representatives of both fighters will meet Tuesday in the office of retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein in Santa Monica, Calif., to try to revive talks between the sides through mediation.
Weinstein will serve as the mediator. He previously successfully mediated a dispute between the same two sides — Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions — in 2006 over promoting Pacquiao, who had signed with both groups.

Q&A: HBO’s Merchant on Mayweather-Pacquiao standoff
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who will represent Pacquiao at the mediation along with Top Rank President Todd DuBoef, said Sunday night the only way that talks will resume is for Mayweather’s side to drop its demands for random blood-testing, and to apologize publicly to Pacquiao for previously implying that the Filipino superstar and seven-time world champion was taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

“Absolutely, from every single one of them,” Arum said of the apology. “Everybody.”

Mayweather’s side originally said it wanted Olympic-style, random blood-testing to be done by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, but has since softened on that demand. Pacquiao has said he is reluctant to have his blood tested within 30 days of the fight.

Neither fighter has ever tested positive for any banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Arum said he has “no feeling one way or the other” whether the mediation can be successful in saving the possible welterweight fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. If the dispute can’t be resolved over the next few days, there’s still a chance the sides can come to an agreement later and the fight pushed back to May or later in the summer.

Arum also said he was under a gag order and couldn’t comment on whether Pacquiao’s lawsuit against Golden Boy Promotions — which represents Mayweather for this fight — for defamation of character would be part of a mediation settlement.

Pacquiao’s lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, filed a lawsuit last week seeking $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. Petrocelli will be present at the mediation.

The Tuesday meeting at Weinstein’s office was first reported by AOL Fanhouse.

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Source:  J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY

If recent history is a guide, especially the last three decades, making big fights takes patience. No one knows that any better than HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant, who has intervened in an effort to help bridge the divide between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Negotiations are at a standstill because Mayweather wants random blood testing — not required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission which only tests urine. Pacquiao has agreed to three blood tests instead. Merchant, who has been with HBO since 1978, recently talked with USA TODAY:

When negotiations came to a sudden halt, after it appeared March 13 in Las Vegas was all but a certainty, what were your thoughts?

I thought it was just some gamesmanship by Mayweather who has a certain talent for mind games with opponents, creating conflict to help promote events. It appears that it has spiraled out of control. I couldn’t imagine why. First of all, since he thinks he’s going to win the fight and second of all because he’s going to make upwards of 30 million or 40 million dollars, how could you take it seriously?

They seem serious about it. Almost as if they were saying Pacquiao can’t be this good on his own. Now it’s seems like it’s a bloodbath. There’s no precedent for fighters who have already decided how to divide the money then find issues that would break up a huge event. It’s hard to take seriously even if it appears to be serious.

Larry Merchant

Do you think Golden Boy Promotions’ demand for random blood testing is reasonable?

I see no indications that Pacquiao is anything but an exceptional, elite fighter. There are many precedents in boxing of smaller fighters to move up in weight division and be successful later in their careers.

(Golden Boy president) Oscar De La Hoya himself started out as a 130-pound titleholder and wound up fighting middleweights which is 30 pounds north of that. It seems like its some sort of ploy. But if both sides take it seriously and both sides see it as a test of their will. And then you get involved with personal issues, then maybe it’s more out of control than anybody could imagine.

Old feuds have gotten into this between Mayweather and (Pacquiao’s promoter Bob) Arum and Arum and De La Hoya. I’ve always looked upon these types of negotiations as a kind of ritual of dominance. ‘I can impose my will on you in the negotiations, therefore I can impose my will on you in the fight.’

Pacquiao turned pro at 106 pounds, but he was only 16 years old. Is it that uncommon for a fighter to compete in multiple divisions, especially with all the sport’s “junior” divisions?

Henry Armstrong turned pro at 120. He also fought for a middleweight championship. Alexis Arguello was a bantamweight when he started as a 16-year-old but he wound up fighting in the 140s. Ted “Kid” Lewis started as a bantamweight, and after winning the welterweight championship wound up fighting the top light heavyweights in the world. There are guys who are exceptions to the rule. Pacquiao fights in the low ’40s. That means he has breakfast and lunch before the weigh-in where most fighters eat lightly, if at all. He’s done a few amazing things. It’s not like he’s going around knocking everybody stiff with one punch. He’s a boxer-puncher who has won on his boxing ability and his quickness. He hit De La Hoya with a flurry of 50 or 60 clean punches and never knocked him down. He’s not Superman’s son. He’s just a helluva fighter who has captured the imagination of the fight world and become a kind of international cultural figure who transcends the sport.

What are the chances this fight happens in 2010?

(Bernard) Hopkins and (Roy) Jones were negotiating for a decade it seemed for a rematch from their 1993 fight. But that was about money. I don’t think the boxing world grieves over the fact that it didn’t get made. There’s so much money involved here, even if irrationality triumphs over rationality, I think eventually the fight will get made. If they can’t come to terms for a March fight then I think it’ll happen at some later date. I think by the end of the holidays cooler heads will come to a compromise.

After Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto, there was a positive energy looking ahead to him facing Mayweather. While this still would be a megafight, the headlines have a more negative tone. Does that matter?

There was a certain momentum that was moving along at a furious pace. The fact of the matter is, everybody except Pacquiao would prefer the fight to happen later now. The March date was picked out because he’s running for political office in May (in the Philippines) and didn’t want to fight after the middle of March. It would still be a huge event. Could it lose some of its mojo? Who knows. Maybe so. There’s a great deal excitement and awareness about the fight right now.

It seems to be a virtual certainty to break all revenue records. The last fight below heavyweight that created this type of interest was the first pay-per-view fight that was (Ray) Leonard and (Thomas) Hearns. That fight was talked about for well over a year before it happened. People couldn’t wait for it to happen. They just let it cook for a while and build up momentum. There’s a lot of heat that’s been built up around this match.

You tried to help out both sides by asking Sen. John McCain to mediate the dispute?

I suggested they should bring in Senator McCain to arbitrate because he’s a regular at big fights. He himself was an amateur fighter at Annapolis in the Navy. Everybody agreed except Pacquiao. I can understand Pacquiao’s point: Who’s Senator McCain? He’s an American politician. He’s being insulted and accused of wrongdoing because he’s so good.

So what’s your final verdict on Pacquiao?

If (his trainer) Freddie Roach says he’s clean — and he’s as straight a shooter as there is in boxing — I believe Freddie Roach.

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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) – 1 hour ago

LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao upped the ante Wednesday in his standoff with Floyd Mayweather Jr. by filing a lawsuit alleging that Mayweather and others defamed him by falsely accusing Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs.

The suit filed in federal court in Las Vegas further complicates efforts to reach an agreement for a proposed March 13 fight between the two boxers.

The suit asks for damages in excess of US$75,000 and names Mayweather, his father, Floyd Sr., and uncle Roger Mayweather as defendants. Also named are Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer, who operate Golden Boy Promotions and are promoting Mayweather.

The lawsuit comes as last ditch talks are still ongoing to salvage the fight, which has been derailed by demands from Mayweather’s camp for random blood testing of the two fighters.

From Source

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Mayweather-Pacquiao Update: Bob Arum makes his “final offer”

Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao are submitting what is said to be a “final offer” to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has made his “final offer” to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions regarding the drug testing controversy that may postpone or outright cancel the scheduled March 13 fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

Were Arum’s offer agreed to, both fighters would submit to unlimited random urinalysis, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission would decide on January 19 if further testing is really necessary.

From the LA Times article:

“We will allow Golden Boy to present experts to the commission to explain why additional testing is required, and we’ll explain our position,” Arum said. “Then we’ll let the Nevada commission decide. If Nevada says we need to do more testing, we’ll do more, but if they don’t, we won’t.”

“If the commission says both fighters have to give blood as they’re walking into the ring, we’ll do it,” Arum said. “But I want the commission saying it, not some outside group with an agenda. If [the Mayweather camp] say no to this, that shows they don’t want the fight.”

What may provide a stumbling block here is the fact that Keith Kizer of the NSAC seems to have his mind made up on the matter, and he offers a solid point:

“I’m pleased with our processes as they are now. They were good enough for Pacquiao-Cotto and for Mayweather-Marquez.”

Kizer says that if promoters petition, they’ll consider going further, but reading between the lines a bit, I don’t think Nevada is exactly bursting at the seams to go into further testing. Golden Boy and Mayweather would have to present something a lot more startling than baseless rumors. Pacquiao has fought 11 times in Nevada and passed their tests on each occasion. The commission is going to need a really, really good reason from Mayweather’s team, and I don’t think they have one. If you boil it all the way down, their arguments probably amount to, “He’s really good and has done some truly amazing things.” That’s just not good enough for a commission to change the way they do their drug testing.

Arum says he wants an agreement by today (Monday) or that he’ll finish negotiations for Pacquiao to face Paulie Malignaggi instead. I think that this fight is going to happen after all. Too big of a payday, too much money, and boxing needs it

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For fear of the fight going down the drain, the camp of Floyd Mayweather Jr. has softened up a bit on its position that an Olympic-style drug testing be mandated on Manny Pacquiao to ensure a level playing field, Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) Chief Executive Officer Richard Schaefer said on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

“As long as there’s a blood test, as long as there’s a urine test and as long as it’s random, a [specificied] cutoff date is agreeable to us,” Schaefer told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. “We’re saying, ‘We’re OK,’ and we hope Pacquiao [and his promoter and trainer] are OK.”

Pacquiao and Mayweather have both agreed to face each other on March 13, 2010, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but a demand by Mayweather that Pacquiao be subjected to Olympic-style testing was met with opposition by Pacquiao’s people, including promoter Bob Arum, who declared the fight dead a few days ago.

Pacquiao’s camp said the testing being conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) should be more than enough to determine if the Filipino pound-for-pound king is taking banned substances.

Schaefer also told ESPN’s Dan Rafael that “we are OK to move off USADA, “What we’re saying, and what is important to us, is four things – that the tests be random, that they include blood and urine and the time frame, meaning when do you stop the tests before the fight but know they will still be effective. Three of them we have agreed on –random, blood and urine. So now it is a matter of the two sides working out the specifics of the cutoff date to assure it will still be effective.”

Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal was the least surprised over the new developments.

Speaking from General Santos City, Gacal said there’s no other choice but to make the fight with Pacquiao happen.

“I knew that they would revert back,” said Gacal.

Arum said if GBP petitions the NSAC that additional tests should be done on Pacquiao, he will respect it but cautioned that he will not allow Pacquiao to be tested during inappropriate
times.

“I will not let this kid get pushed around,” said Arum from his vacation spot in Mexico. Still, Schaefer said doing a compromise is a “two-way street.”

“The pressure is on Pacquiao,” he said. “They keep moving the goal post like they did with the $10-million weight penalty [if either fighter is over the contract maximum 147 pounds], which we agreed to. They didn’t think we would accept that. When we did, they had to find something else to make into a problem. So now they’re saying it’s up to the commission instead of wanting to negotiate the drug testing with us. I don’t want to hear that if the fight breaks up it was because of us. When they came to us with a $10 million weight penalty, they didn’t expect us to say yes. They thought we’d say no. So when we said yes, they had to come up with something else.”

“We are making compromises. It’s a two-way street. If they back off again, I will shut off my phone and spend the rest of the Christmas and New Year’s time with my family, and good luck to all of these fools,” said Schaefer, who represents Mayweather.

I am still willing to Fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. I never said the fight was off or I do not want to fight him. I will fight anyone at anytime and my record and past fights prove that. I have never and will never dodge anyone.

These are my specifications for this fight regarding blood testing. I have offered to give a blood sample the day of the Announcement of the fight at the Press Release. I have Offered to give a blood sample 30 days before the fight. I am willing to give blood immediately after the fight is over inside my dressing room . I am also willing to give urine tests at anytime any where everyday leading up to the fight. The truth is taking blood out of my body does not seem natural to me and mentally I feel it  will weaken me if blood is taken from me just days before the fight. That does not make sense to me why anyone would do that.
These accusations  of me using any performance enhancing supplements are totally unwarranted and unjustified. To all of my fans I want to say thank you very much for all your support and understanding. I always give honor to God first and I would never cheat. I would never Cheat God, I would never cheat myself, and I would never cheat my country and my fans.
If Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not accept these terms than my promoter will find me another fight for March the 13th. Again I will fight anyone at anytime.

I would always like to be known for my honor and my integrity. I will always be known for my courage and my willingness to face any man at anytime in my career. If Floyd Mayweather Jr. truly ever wanted to fight me and he is not really scared he would accept these terms I am  willing to give him as they are above and beyond what the commission demands.

I should not have to prove myself as I have always done what the commission has asked me to do and I have never ever swayed from that. Never has there been a time where anything I have ever done has been in question. I stand behind my honor and my integrity. I stand below God and my Country. I stand with my fans and I hope Floyd is not really really a coward and will fight me and give the fans what they want to see. I am not afraid to fight Floyd anywhere anytime.
From Source.

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From Source.

This just adds more fuel to the fire for the bout in my opinion. Imagive the PPVs these guys could do with all the hype surrounding the bout now!

Manny Pacquiao said he plans to file a defamation lawsuit against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the fighter’s father, and Golden Boy Promotions.

In a statement posted yesterday on his Web site, Pacquiao claims that his character has been damaged and tarnished by accusations he says are untrue. Floyd Mayweather Sr. repeatedly has accused Pacquiao of taking illegal substances, according to ESPN.com.

“Enough is enough,” Pacquiao said in the statement. “These people, Mayweather Sr., Jr., and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. I have tried to just brush it off as a mere pre-fight ploy, but I think they have gone overboard.”

A planned March 13 fight in Las Vegas is in danger because the sides have failed to find a compromise to a dispute over blood testing. Promoter Bob Arum declared the bout dead Thursday.

At the core of the dispute is the insistence of the Mayweather camp on using Olympic-style drug testing for the fight, even though both fighters have never been linked to any performance-enhancing substances.

Arum had set a Thursday deadline for an agreement on testing. With the Mayweather camp still insisting on using the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to conduct the tests, Arum said there wasn’t much left to discuss.

Here’s an article talking about a possibility to get the drug testing done:

Pacquiao vs Mayweather 2010 fight might be back on. Pacquiao has suggested to the Mayweather camp another drug testing option for the possible March 13, 2010 Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight, ESPN reported Thursday.

Pacquiao suggested testing that the NBA, NFL and MLB use, and Mayweather has yet to respond. Pacquiao has agreed to additional drug testing, but not as much as the Olympic style testing would require. Pac is making an effort; it seems that he wants this fight to happen.

In a press conference Tuesday, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said the fight was off. Mayweather’s promoter said that he requested the drug testing to be in compliance with the US Anti-Doping Agency (Olympic style testing), that will “ensure fair play and sportsmanship by both fighters.”

Pac’s promoter said: “We’re going in a different direction.” “What I believe is that Floyd never really wanted the fight and this is just harassment of Pacquiao.

“We appeased Mayweather by agreeing to a urine analysis at any time, and blood testing before the press conference and after the fight. Mayweather pressed for blood testing even up to the weigh-in. He knew that Manny gets freaked out when his blood gets taken, and feels that it weakens him. This is just harassment and, to me, just signaled that he didn’t want the fight.”

Pacman hasn’t hidden the fact that he doesn’t like to have blood drawn, he feels it makes him weak.  Olympic style testing would require a a great deal of blood testing.  For more information about the original drug testing argument between Pacman and Mayweather, click here.

If they can work out an agreement, they are expected to officially announce the fight by January 11, 2010.

Source: ESPN