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Hatton came up with the idea first...
Pacquiao should request that for this fight, lidocaine/xylocaine be tested for randomly and be considered a PED as per Nevada commission standards. If Mayweather and his attorney have an issue with it as they did when Hatton brought it up, Pac should go on a 1 1/2 long vacation.
Floyd Mayweather has hands full as focus falls on pain-relief drug
Owen Slot, Chief Sports Reporter and Ron Lewis in Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather’s suspect hands are viewed as such a potential weakness by Ricky Hatton’s camp that they have requested that he be banned from using the anaesthetic, lidocaine.
In the long build-up to tonight’s bout, Mayweather has repeatedly denied that his hands might cause him a problem. However, the Mayweathers are unhappy that lidocaine has been specifically identified as a drug that cannot be used.
Hatton himself is concerned that Mayweather may use his hands as an excuse if he loses his title tonight. However, his camp agreed that the priority was to prevent the American from any illegal advantage.
The Hattons maintained their focus on this issue yesterday at another prebout meeting when they wanted to ensure that Mayweather would not be able to protect his hands with an unfair use of tape.
The Hattons wanted to check that Mayweather would not be able to use anything more than the minimum stipulated length of tape. The less tape used clearly gives Mayweather less of a cushion from the blows of his punches and thus prevents him from blocking any pain his hands might register.
Lidocaine is an anaesthetic used locally to relieve pain, particularly by dentists. However, it has been employed in boxing to relieve injured or weak hands, most notably by Oscar De La Hoya, the promoter tonight, in his bout against Bernard Hopkins three years ago.
The issue here in Las Vegas has been whether or not lidocaine was permissible. The drug is not on the banned list of the World AntiDoping Agency (Wada), yet it has been ruled illegal by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), under whose authority the contest is being run.
The Hattons’ concern was that, although NSAC bans the drug, if the urine samples that the boxers are obliged to give afterwards were sent to a Wada-accredited laboratory, then lidocaine might not be tested for.
At the bout organisational meeting run by NSAC on Wednesday morning, Gareth Williams, Hatton’s lawyer, asked Keith Kizer, the NSAC executive director, if lidocaine would be tested for.
“We’d all seen the stories about Mayweather’s hands and we had heard rumours that he uses lidocaine,” Williams said. “So we just wanted to make sure that they complied with the rules and that it would be tested for.”
The request did not go down well with John Hornewer, Mayweather’s attorney. Williams said: “He responded by saying: ‘Well, what about grappling?’ I quite facetiously responded: ‘I didn’t think you could test for that.’” Kizer confirmed yesterday that lidocaine is banned for use by boxers within a week of a bout. “If lidocaine is injected,” he said, “the pain receptors in the boxer may not work and he may not know if he is hurt.” He also confirmed that lidocaine would be tested for after the bout, at the Quest Diagnostics laboratory in the city.
Mayweather’s hand problems have been long documented but they resurfaced a fortnight ago in an edition of the 24/7 television documentary that showed the boxer having a wax paraffin treatment and quietly acknowledging the issue.
“She [my doctor] thinks I shouldn’t be fighting too much more,” he said. “My body’s tearing down. My left hand is tearing down. And I never used to have hand problems until it started happening later in my career as a professional.”
After Mayweather failed to get under Hatton’s skin with a ******* of abuse during the build-up to this bout, his uncle and trainer, Roger, took a step back into the gutter in the final episode of 24/7, claiming that Hatton could be killed in the ring. It seemed just loathsome street talk, but probably had a smarter motive: insulting Hatton had not unsettled the Briton, so why not try to upset his family?
“Even if he [Hatton] comes out alive, he’s going to be so f***ed up, it won’t make any difference,” Roger Mayweather said. On Thursday evening in Las Vegas, Hatton’s parents, Ray and Carol, witnessed a private preview showing of the programme and were distinctly unhappy. Ray said: “When the spotlight is on the sport; it’s not called for. It’s thuggery, isn’t it? The knockers of the sport can now say, ‘There you go. Told you so.’ ”
Owen Slot, Chief Sports Reporter and Ron Lewis in Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather’s suspect hands are viewed as such a potential weakness by Ricky Hatton’s camp that they have requested that he be banned from using the anaesthetic, lidocaine.
In the long build-up to tonight’s bout, Mayweather has repeatedly denied that his hands might cause him a problem. However, the Mayweathers are unhappy that lidocaine has been specifically identified as a drug that cannot be used.
Hatton himself is concerned that Mayweather may use his hands as an excuse if he loses his title tonight. However, his camp agreed that the priority was to prevent the American from any illegal advantage.
The Hattons maintained their focus on this issue yesterday at another prebout meeting when they wanted to ensure that Mayweather would not be able to protect his hands with an unfair use of tape.
The Hattons wanted to check that Mayweather would not be able to use anything more than the minimum stipulated length of tape. The less tape used clearly gives Mayweather less of a cushion from the blows of his punches and thus prevents him from blocking any pain his hands might register.
Lidocaine is an anaesthetic used locally to relieve pain, particularly by dentists. However, it has been employed in boxing to relieve injured or weak hands, most notably by Oscar De La Hoya, the promoter tonight, in his bout against Bernard Hopkins three years ago.
The issue here in Las Vegas has been whether or not lidocaine was permissible. The drug is not on the banned list of the World AntiDoping Agency (Wada), yet it has been ruled illegal by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), under whose authority the contest is being run.
The Hattons’ concern was that, although NSAC bans the drug, if the urine samples that the boxers are obliged to give afterwards were sent to a Wada-accredited laboratory, then lidocaine might not be tested for.
At the bout organisational meeting run by NSAC on Wednesday morning, Gareth Williams, Hatton’s lawyer, asked Keith Kizer, the NSAC executive director, if lidocaine would be tested for.
“We’d all seen the stories about Mayweather’s hands and we had heard rumours that he uses lidocaine,” Williams said. “So we just wanted to make sure that they complied with the rules and that it would be tested for.”
The request did not go down well with John Hornewer, Mayweather’s attorney. Williams said: “He responded by saying: ‘Well, what about grappling?’ I quite facetiously responded: ‘I didn’t think you could test for that.’” Kizer confirmed yesterday that lidocaine is banned for use by boxers within a week of a bout. “If lidocaine is injected,” he said, “the pain receptors in the boxer may not work and he may not know if he is hurt.” He also confirmed that lidocaine would be tested for after the bout, at the Quest Diagnostics laboratory in the city.
Mayweather’s hand problems have been long documented but they resurfaced a fortnight ago in an edition of the 24/7 television documentary that showed the boxer having a wax paraffin treatment and quietly acknowledging the issue.
“She [my doctor] thinks I shouldn’t be fighting too much more,” he said. “My body’s tearing down. My left hand is tearing down. And I never used to have hand problems until it started happening later in my career as a professional.”
After Mayweather failed to get under Hatton’s skin with a ******* of abuse during the build-up to this bout, his uncle and trainer, Roger, took a step back into the gutter in the final episode of 24/7, claiming that Hatton could be killed in the ring. It seemed just loathsome street talk, but probably had a smarter motive: insulting Hatton had not unsettled the Briton, so why not try to upset his family?
“Even if he [Hatton] comes out alive, he’s going to be so f***ed up, it won’t make any difference,” Roger Mayweather said. On Thursday evening in Las Vegas, Hatton’s parents, Ray and Carol, witnessed a private preview showing of the programme and were distinctly unhappy. Ray said: “When the spotlight is on the sport; it’s not called for. It’s thuggery, isn’t it? The knockers of the sport can now say, ‘There you go. Told you so.’ ”
Pacquiao should request that for this fight, lidocaine/xylocaine be tested for randomly and be considered a PED as per Nevada commission standards. If Mayweather and his attorney have an issue with it as they did when Hatton brought it up, Pac should go on a 1 1/2 long vacation.
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