By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Keith Kizer has informed us that both pound-for-pound hero Manny Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr have been found negative of any illegal substances or performance enhancing drugs.
In a brief message the respected NSAC official said “the urine test came back totally clean.”
The chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Pat Lundvall had earlier ordered Pacquiao and Mayweather to immediately undergo out-of-competition urine tests as the handlers of both fighters engaged in back-and-forth bickering over Mayweather’s demand for random drugs tnests and Pacquiao’s proposal indicating his willingness to undergo blood tests one day before the kickoff press conference, 24 days before the fight from his original 30 day proposal and a third test right after the fight in the dressing room which was rejected by Mayweather.
Lundvall had ordered Kizer to have the urinalysis done in accredited drug-testing laboratories in the US and Philippines since Pacquiao was in his hometown of General Santos at that time. Since the only World Anti Doping Agency accredited doctor was the Philippine Olympic Committee’s Dr. Alex Pineda, he flew to GenSan, took the urine and had it sent to an accredited lab in Malaysia for testing.
Following Kizer’s information relayed to BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz met with the media at the Hyatt Hotel and officially informed them of the test results.
Koncz said he was confident from the start that the results would show Pacquiao is not on any performance enhancing drugs or illegal substances as borne by the numerous tests conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission before and after all his fights in Las Vegas.
Konz saids “it was no surprise (the results) and we are not shocked by the news because we knew that Manny will test negative since he is not using any drugs when training for a fight.” Koncz told us he should know because he is with Pacquiao effectively 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Pacquiao was not present when Koncz met the media and according to his adviser, he was meeting with some political leaders regarding his bid for a congressional seat from Sanarngani in the May elections.
Pacquiao was playing billiards hours before taking the Philippine Airlines flight to Wild Card and then joining Clottey in two media promotional stops in Dallas and New York’s Madison Square Garden Theater on Tuesday and Wednesday before buckling down to hard training at the Wild Card Gym of trainer Freddie Roach.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said the Dallas news conference would be spectacular with the presence of the stunning Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders who will perform besides having some of the beauties serving as round girls for the fight.
Koncz said Pacquiao has stayed in shape physically by playing basketball regularly although it is well known that he has been spending late nights playing pool even as Koncz denied rumors that Pacquiao had been gambling at the casino.
In a related development Kizer told us that Golden Boy Promotions “still plans to go on” with a Mayweather fight at the MGM Grand on March 13 but there are “no details as yet.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum in an earlier reaction to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer’s announced plan to go ahead with a Mayweather bout on the same day that Pacquiao defends his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey at the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas branded Schaefer’s action as “malicious.”
