By Rick Reeno
Back in November, junior welterweight Paulie Malignaggi sat down with BoxingScene.com's Ryan Burton and discussed a variety of topics. One of those topics was Manny Pacquiao and his explosive win over Miguel Cotto. The comments by Malignaggi stirred a big pot of controversy [Click Here To Read The Full Interview].
Paulie Malignaggi: I think there is something up with Manny Pacquiao. I am not going to get into it. I think people will understand what I am saying. Full blown welterweights don't take those type of punches from Miguel Cotto the way he took them with total disregard for his power nor do they hurt him with every punch they hit him with. These are full blown welterweights I am talking about. This guy is coming up in weight and doing all these things. There is something up with this guy but that's as far as I am going to go into it. Floyd Mayweather (Senior) has gotten into it a little bit. There have been other fighters who have mentioned it. I am not going to get into no controversy. I am going to leave it at that. There is something that seriously makes me feel weird about Manny Pacquiao. I am going to leave it at that.
On Tuesday, Golden Boy Promotions disclosed a shocker. CEO Richard Schaefer made it known that he advised by Top Rank that Pacquiao would not agree to the proposed terms of Olympic-style drug testing being administered within 30-days of the fight. Schaefer made it very clear; unless Pacquiao agreed to those terms - the fight with Mayweather would not move forward. Top Rank's Bob Arum told BoxingScene the fight "was off as of now."
The big controversy centers around Pacquiao’s unwillingness to take a “blood test” so close to the fight. There are no objections on a urinalysis being conducted within 30-days. The lines have been drawn by both sides. Pacquiao’s side countered with their own proposal. Pacquiao is willing to take a blood test before the tentative January 6 press conference to announce the fight, or immediately following the conclusion of the Mayweather fight, scheduled for March 13.
The situation has been escalating since Floyd Mayweather Sr. first accused Pacquiao of using performance enhancing drugs a few months ago.
Malignaggi spoke to BoxingScene.com on Wednesday. He wouldn't discuss the latest controversy in detail but he did have a message for our readers.
"When the Juan Diaz fight happened, the first time around, I told everyone what was going to happen and instead of people having my back - they said I was a complainer. Then it happened and I was proven right. Before this situation came to light [Mayweather-Pacquiao controversy], I made some comments and everyone complained about me again. Now we have a bunch of controversy leaking out. I'm tired of educating retards and I'm done educating retards," Malignaggi told BoxingScene.com.
