By Michael Marley

If Bernard Hopkins needed a male cheerleader, I would be among the first to apply.

Give me the sweater with the “BH” logo and a couple of pom poms and I will wave them proudly and loudly.

I'd even light the bonfire for the prefight rally, all for the about to turn age 46 (January 15) Philadelphia slickster.

Which brings me to Floyd Mayweather Sr., who is still spouting his “Manny Pacquiao is a drug cheater” line of patter. I don't know if Papa Floyd's spew is an example of reverse racism directed at one particular Pinoy Idol but I don't see Mayweather Pere barking about any other prominent fighter including Hopkins.

Meanwhile, Hopkins crows, and rightfully so, about his convincing performance against Jean Pascal, which should've wound up as a title-winning victory for the Pennsylvanian but for an inexplicable 10-10 even round marking by Belgian Waffler judge Daniel Van de Wiele.

"It was a perfect fight for a senior citizen. I set a profound bar and statement. I beat Pascal. If I got the decision, you wouldn't be saying Pascal got robbed. Somebody had to be fighting their ass off to come from two knock-downs, fighting a Canadian in Canada and get a draw. I fought my heart out. I got up off the canvas and fought a champion's fight," Hopkins said.

"I had the young guy running, holding on. Pascal knew he was in a fight. He knew he had to run to save his life and save that belt, because I was on him. A young guy running from an old grandpa. I can still beat these guys, and beat them impressively. You saw me taking him to school."

Now my personal opinion is that Hopkins proficiency at his ripe old age, as recently demonstrated when he got up off the floor twice to “beat” 28 year old Pascal, is due to clean living, good genes and his constant study of his chosen profession.

Like him or loathe him, as many in the fight game do loathe him, the man put the "d" in dedication to his craft.

Let me repeat, lest anyone get it twisted, I believe that, when it comes to illegal additives, that Hopkins is as clean as the proverbial whistle.

But the question before the jury is not whether Hopkins cheats but why no one even questions his achievememnts with four and half decades of living behind him?

In other words, why does Hopkins get a free pass and why is Pacman still the Number 1 suspect on the drug cheating list in some suspicious minds?

You have one guy in his physical prime, and at age 32 he is 14 years younger than the ex-middleweight champion, and another is in his dotage.

But when Hopkins exposes Pascal, and he certainly did that in La Belle Provence, no red lights, no alarm bells, no nothing as to even the remote possibility that Bernie might be getting by with a little help from some pharmaceutical pals?

The Pacquiao Double Standard will be with us, like a plague, through the rest of Manny's career and into his retirement from the ring years, unfortunately. That's just the way it is.

(A quick note - if you accuse Pacquiao of fighting handpicked foes, and this criticism often rings true, then what about how carefully Hopkins picks vulnerable foes. Why is he is not banging the drum to fight Lucian Bute or Andre Ward?

When BHop handpicks an guy he believes he will beat, he's a wise, old owl. When Pacquiao (and Boss Arum) do it, it's a con job, an insult to the boxing consumer? Yes, this poison arrow is directed at you, venonmous Examiner Brother Ricardo Lois in La La Land.)

I don't think Floyd's father is actually racist, either, I believe he just has a blind spot, an ego that has been damaged much like his son's as Pacquiao becomes more popular and continues to be wildly successful in the ring and out.

Again, I would never accuse Hopkins or any other superstar fighter of such dirty dealings sans proof.

But, then again, I never saw anyone accuse Mr. Mosley when he was picking up his BALCO packages and Mosley was another boxer then in his prime time years.

Instead, my question is why Hopkins and others get a free pass while Pacquiao is guilty until proven not guilty in the minds of many, including some people who are thought to be much more intelligent than “Roads Scholar” Mayweather Sr?

Keep in mind, as I stated earlier, I would sign up for the Hopkins Pep Squad in a heartbeat.

If there is an explanation other than racism and jealousy, always a toxic mixture, then I'm all ears.