Bad Blood: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. & Travis Tygart should stop the drug testing charade

Bill Shimizu Detroit Boxing Examiner May 22, 7:44 PM http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/replicate/EXID38314/images/resized_wikihow.jpg Now that the genie is out of the bottle, or to put it simply, the results of the controversial random Olympic- style drug testing supposedly conducted on both Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Shane Mosley en route to their May 1st welterweight fight are now released to the public, a lot of people are crying out and shaking their heads in disbelief- that the much publicized drug testing conducted on the two fighters by the U.S. Anti- Doping Agency (USADA) is nothing but a sham. Now, any boxing fan out there is aware that the negotiations for the Manny Pacquiao- Floyd Mayweather, Jr. mega fight bogged down because of differences in the cut off date of the so- called random Olympic- style drug testing which focused mainly on blood testing wherein the camp of Manny Pacquiao proposed a 24- day cutoff plus one right after the fight to which the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. camp countered with its last offer of a 14- day cutoff. The USADA report currently circulating around various media outlets revealed that both fighters were tested a total of seven times including one for blood and urine after the fight, but the most telling of which were the April 12 & 13 cutoff dates for blood tests conducted on Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. respectively which were about +/- 18 days before fight night. So, where is the promise that they will conduct the said blood tests anytime up until the night before fight night? Where and when did the “leveling the playing field” dogma come into play in this case? Isn’t it a complete disservice to boxing that, despite the hype and publicity, they failed to back up their claims considering that Shane Mosley is a confessed performance- enhancing drugs (PEDs) user in the past? Some people will point out that the 18- day blood testing cutoff in the Mayweather- Mosley is immaterial since the focus should be on the word “random” and therefore even if the USADA cutoff period was 18 days before fight night, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Shane Mosley had no idea that they will not be tested again after the said date, which would be enough deterrent for them not to cheat. Yet, these same people were also the ones who were very vocal that a fighter can take PEDs and wash them completely out of one’s system in a little less than 24 hours afterwards. Thus, on the basis of that questionable rationale above, Travis Tygart, the chief executive officer of the USADA, concluded that both Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Shane Mosley passed the random Olympic- style drug testing conducted by his agency and that the two fighters were clean athletes and “consummate professionals throughout the entire process.” But if Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Travis Tygart and company think that the boxing public will buy this flimsy and illogical reasoning then they are absolutely mistaken. If Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Travis Tygart and company were able to sell the promise of random Olympic- style testing to gullible people in the past, this time they will be hard put to repeat their success for the boxing public are now aware of their brand of double talk. If Floyd Maywether, Jr., Travis Tygart and company believed that they can come out of this debacle unscathed, then they are absolutely wrong. “It’s rather disappointing to learn that Money May and this USADA tried to pull a fast one on us. They thought that they can just easily get away from it that’s why. But we know better“ -- Marcus V. Detroit, MI Contrary to some opinions, boxing fans are not dumb people who are not capable of seeing behind the smoke screen that they are being short-changed, and their intellect challenged to let people like Floyd Mayweather, Jr, Travis Tygart and company get away with it. And contrary to some stereotypes, boxing fans are not a bunch of "punched drunks" to let people like Floyd Mayweather, Jr, Travis Tygart and company fool them and continue to insult their intelligence when it is obvious that they are being taken for a ride. This random Olympic-style drug testing charade being perpetrated by Floyd Mayweather, Jr, in cooperation with USADA’s Travis Tygart, has to stop. This comedy show run by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in cooperation with USADA’s Travis Tygart has to end. Travis Tygart and the USADA have no place in professional sports and they need to clean up their own backyard first, which is literally and figuratively littered with PEDs and cheaters of all colors and sizes before snooping on the business of others. When that time comes, then they can have the moral authority to look on the other side of the fence. But for now, they better stay home and mind their own business. So, If Floyd Mayweather, Jr. wants to “clean up boxing” then he should take up his case to the proper authority that has proper jurisdiction over the said PEDs issues like the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) or any other state commissions and let them decide on the matter. Oh by the way, what kind of a boxing fan are you?