By Mark Vester
HBO's expert boxing analyst Larry Merchant doesn't see anything that would make him think that Manny Pacquiao is using any performance enhancing drugs. The debate over the legit nature of Pacquiao's performances has come up in the big mess involving the dispute over the cut-off date for random Olympic style drug tests for a March fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"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. 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," Merchant told USA Today.
