"Where were these concerns when Bob Arum said they allegedly agreed to all terms last year? Once again, this is yet another example of Bob Arum trying to run misdirection and mislead the public to take people off of the focus. You would think that Koncz and Arum would have got their stories straight before going public with two totally different stories. You got Bob Arum coming on record to say one thing and a day later, Koncz comes on record with you saying something totally different, so which one is it...USADA is the premiere agency for doing this. They're recognized by the United States Congress, the same Congress that Manny Pacquiao helped Senator Harry Reid campaign to get re-elected to. They test elite athletes in all sports on the national and international level. They're the gold standard, so I don't understand what the problem is," stated Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, who shared his thoughts on promoter Bob Arum's comments regarding Team Pacquiao's concerns about USADA. Check out what else he had to say!
BT: What's going on, Leonard?
LE: How you doing, Ben?
BT: Doing good. So have you heard the latest news from Bob Arum?
LE: Nobody's thinking about Bob Arum or Manny Pacquiao. From now until September 18th, the focus is solely on Victor Ortiz because he's a young, strong champion who is hungry after coming off of a tremendous victory.
BT: Well, in a way, I guess it is somewhat related to the Victor Ortiz fight. Apparently, Manny Pacquiao is now willing to do random Olympic-style drug testing, but they don't want USADA to do the testing. According to Arum, because Pacquiao is from the Philippines, they're concerned about the neutrality of USADA.
LE: Let me get this straight. You mean to tell me this guy has no problems with making money in the United States, he has no problems with fighting for United States athletic commissions, like Nevada and Texas, and he has no problems with United States referees and judges officiating his fights, but the one problem he does have with the United States is the Anti-Doping Agency?
BT: That's what Bob Arum is saying. I guess last Tuesday, he told a reporter, and I quote, "We have agreed in the Pacquiao camp to unlimited random testing done by a responsible, neutral organization. We don't believe USADA is a neutral organization."
LE: That doesn't make any sense. Where were these concerns when Bob Arum said they allegedly agreed to all terms last year? Once again, this is yet another example of Bob Arum trying to run misdirection and mislead the public to take people off of the focus. You would think that Koncz and Arum would have got their stories straight before going public with two totally different stories. You got Bob Arum coming on record to say one thing and a day later, Koncz comes on record with you saying something totally different, so which one is it? Koncz is supposed to be the adviser. How can the person closest to Manny, and who is talking directly to Manny, not mention any of this to you? Don't you think they would have got together and had a discussion to get their story straight before they came on record?
BT: Well, I would think they would've talked, but from what Michael Koncz was telling me, it didn't sound like they did, especially considering that he was still talking about a cut-off date and Manny's concerns about giving blood close to a fight. The interesting thing to note is that Bob Arum also said they would be fine with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) handling the testing, but after doing some research, I learned that WADA doesn't actually do the enforcing of their testing protocols by themselves. In fact, since the fight would take place in the United States, they told me that the United States Anti-Doping Agency is the organization they would expect to enforce their anti-doping code.
LE: Because USADA is the premiere agency for doing this. They're recognized by the United States Congress, the same Congress that Manny Pacquiao helped Senator Harry Reid campaign to get re-elected to. They test elite athletes in all sports on the national and international level. They're the gold standard, so I don't understand what the problem is. None of what they are saying makes any sense. Once again, if he [Pacquiao] is willing to fight Floyd, he will be no different than any other fighter who steps in the ring and is subjected to the gold standard of random blood and urine tests. It gets no clearer than that.
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