Arum Reiterates: "Testing Non F*cking Issue"

Says Manny has agreed to unlimited random drug testing AND they have no problem with USADA conducting the testing when Manny is training in the U.S. They only ask that NSAC acts as the umbrella authority (which they already are): Will we finally get Pacquiao-Mayweather? As we all get set to watch Floyd Mayweather Jr. face Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET, $59.95), many view it as a warm-up fight for the one we all really want -- and have waited for the past couple of years -- to see. That would be Mayweather against fellow pound-for-pound star Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao, of course, has his own fight to take care of. On Nov. 12, he will have a third showdown, also at the MGM Grand, against Juan Manuel Marquez, who has already given Pacquiao two very tough fights that could have gone either way but were ruled a draw and a Pacquiao split-decision win. Pacquiao is a significant favorite to take this meeting as well, and if he and Mayweather come up winners in their upcoming bouts, the pressure will once again be on to finally make the damn fight. It has been a soap opera of negotiations (two rounds so far, not to mention endless rhetoric) that has yet to yield what likely would be the biggest money fight in boxing history. The hangup was all about drug testing. To make a long story short, Mayweather wanted random blood and urine testing. Pacquiao was cool with unlimited urine testing but was apprehensive about random blood testing -- which no commission on earth requires -- all the way up to fight day. Throughout the promotion of the Ortiz fight, Mayweather has been asked about Pacquiao and has responded with the same mantra he cites whenever the subject comes up: "Take the test." During the promotion for the Marquez fight, Pacquiao has been asked about Mayweather and has said multiple times that blood testing is no longer an issue. So will we see the fight if they both win? Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao (and promoted Mayweather for most of his career before an ugly falling out), told me the other day that he sees no reason why it can't happen next. "Manny has taken the position that he would agree to unlimited testing," Arum said. "It is a non-f------ issue." But the question of which agency would handle the testing might be. Mayweather currently uses the United States Anti-Doping Agency to handle testing for his fights. He has been randomly tested -- and required his opponents, such as Ortiz and Shane Mosley, to also be randomly tested -- for his recent bouts. Arum said he and Pacquiao have no issue with USADA testing but maintain that any testing "should be done under the overall umbrella of the state commission" where the proposed fight would take place. There has been some talk from the Mayweather camp about wanting Pacquiao to train exclusively in the United States so he could be under USADA's jurisdiction. However, Pacquiao lives in the Philippines (where he serves in that country's congress) and usually spends the first half of his training camp there before relocating for the second part of his camp, to trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif. Arum said the World Anti-Doping Agency, essentially the umbrella agency over USADA, would have to handle Pacquiao's testing in the Philippines. "The testing would have to be done by WADA, which means when Manny trains in the Philippines, whoever they use in Asia to do the testing would do it," Arum said. "When Manny is training in the United States, they would use USADA. WADA gets the agency to supervise the testing in the Philippines. But the point is, it all has to be done under the overall authority of the boxing commission wherever you have the fight." Even though Pacquiao is now apparently willing to do the unlimited random testing, Arum still wasn't convinced the fight would happen. "I'm not optimistic," Arum said. "I think Mayweather will look for a way not to do the fight. I smell the initial drum beat of 'You're not allowed to train in the Philippines' because of the testing. Once Mayweather says that, he can go f--- himself. Then it becomes a major political issue when he says Manny can't train in his home country. Besides, nobody would subject themselves to that type of restriction." Here we go again? http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/6967108/will-get-pacquiao-mayweather So let the new excuses begin. We going with taxes again? Not thinking about Boxing? Tuneups? More vacation time? Discuss...