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MAYWEATHER MAIL: WHAT IS BOB ARUM UP TO?

By Ben Thompson | July 17, 2011
MAYWEATHER MAIL: WHAT IS BOB ARUM UP TO?

FightHype's recent interviews with WADA and USADA sparked a ton of reaction and have left many fans wondering if there truly is a concern about neutrality or if Bob Arum is simply "up to something" after making his latest revelations regarding random Olympic-style blood testing. The emails have not stopped pouring in from fans who are questioning Arum's motives. Although I don't have all the answers, I do have an opinion, so check out what I had to say to inquiring minds who want to know more about the interesting timing of Bob Arum's comments.



Love the mailbags Ben. I just don't know about Arum now. First of all, I've heard that WADA does not test people, they make the rules. They have facilities that they trust to run the test. Arum NOW decides that USADA is not neutral. So if I'm PBF I do not allow a Filipino facility to run the test. I feel Arum is up to something. He has probably found a facility that he can bribe and he will request that facility. To me PBF and Arum should recommend a facility for each other. PBF should choose the facility for Pac and Pac choose for PBF. Arum is slick as opossum shit!


BT: I definitely think there's a reason why Bob Arum waited until now to reveal their concern about USADA, especially after allegedly agreeing to all of Mayweather's terms this time last year. Truth be told, I'm still not sure what the concern is with an organization that's responsible for testing each and every U.S. athlete hoping to participate in the Olympic Games. We're not talking about some state run commission, like the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who they don't seem to have any problems with whatsoever. USADA is an organization that's recognized and trusted by the United States Congress, and obviously there's one member of Congress that Manny Pacquiao trusts, Senator Harry Reid, otherwise he never would have campaigned on his behalf to help get him re-elected. Manny Pacquiao seems just fine with making money in the United States. He has no problems fighting for state run boxing commissions in the United States. He completely trusts the officiating from judges and referees in the United States. And to my knowledge, he didn't complain at all about the medical care his wife received when she gave birth to their daughter in the United States. Despite all of that, according to Bob Arum, the one thing that Manny Pacquiao doesn't trust is the Anti-Doping Agency in the United States? I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time buying that theory. I don't know if I'd say Bob Arum is trying to bribe someone, but there definitely seems to be some kind of hidden agenda when it comes to making the fight that everyone wants to see. Until I hear from Manny Pacquiao himself that he has a concern with USADA, I'll just assume that it's an issue that Bob Arum wants us to believe he has.

Ben, I don't know about you but something smells fishy with Arum's and PacMan's concerns about the testing! This is the second time we have heard them supposedly wonder what will happen if PacMan does test positive, if you recall Teddy Atlas was the first to report that someone from PacMan's camp had that concern last year! If you're clean, then why even suggest such a thing?  Bob Arum is really running out of options with PacMan especially with Cintron losing! His only hope is that Judah beats Khan otherwise, I don't know who he can put PacMan in with next if Bradley signs with Golden Boy!  Sooner or later they will have to cave in to Mayweather's demands because Mayweather as all the options in terms of big fights right now (Ortiz, Khan, Cotto, Bradley, S.Martinez) What do you think? CJ (Norfolk, Va) Goooooooo ODU Monarchs

BT: You know CJ, I'm not even sure if this truly is a concern of Manny Pacquiao, as he has yet to even comment on it. When I spoke to his adviser, Michael Koncz, just one day after Bob Arum voiced their concern about USADA, he didn't even mention one word about it, instead still talking about cut-off dates and the fear of giving blood so close to a fight. Judging by the way Bob Arum recently endorsed Brandon Rios as a future opponent for Pacquiao, it sounds like he's creating several new options. Bob Arum is an excellent chess player who likes to stay two steps ahead of his competition. I have a feeling that he already has a pretty good idea of who Pacquiao's next opponent will be after Marquez. In the long run, I'm not sure which of the two will run out of options first, but I don't think Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez, or Timothy Bradley will be options for Mayweather. Cotto is a Top Rank fighter, so I highly doubt you'll see Bob Arum letting him take the same random drug tests administered by USADA, especially when he's complaining about them on behalf of Pacquiao. Simply put, it's Pacquiao or bust for Mayweather when it comes to Top Rank fighters. Sergio Martinez, in my opinion, is far too big for both Mayweather and Pacquiao to ever really consider fighting. People forget, Mayweather, like Pacquiao, is a natural welterweight. Neither one of them weigh too much more than their fighting weight, unlike a lot of welterweights who drain themselves to make weight limit. If you noticed during the press conference, even Victor Ortiz, who just moved up to 147 in his last fight, looked a lot bigger than Floyd during their face off. Sergio Martinez will most likely have at least a 20-pound weight advantage on fight night. As good as both fighters are, I think people are asking a little too much of both Mayweather and Pacquiao if they expect to see that fight happen. Martinez should be focusing more on the super middleweights, like Andre Ward. As for Timothy Bradley, although he denies signing any paperwork yet, from what we've been told, he's basically already a Top Rank fighter. Once his litigation with his former promoter, Gary Shaw, is complete, I expect an official announcement to come shortly afterwards. I won't be surprised to see Bradley return to the ring later this year in a welterweight bout, probably against another Top Rank fighter like undefeated welterweight Mike Jones, who Arum has already mentioned as a potential opponent for Pacquiao. Considering that Pacquiao is the WBO Welterweight "Super Champion", I wouldn't even be surprised to see them fighting for the "regular" WBO welterweight title. The winner of that fight will likely be Pacquiao's next opponent - a young, strong, hungry champion. Sound familiar? I could be wrong, but if I were Arum, that's probably how I would move my pawns.

Good day to you Mr. Thompson, I was reading your July 6th column about Mayweather. I'm a big fan of the young man & wishes him all the best in future bout as well as life. With that said I'm wondering if I'm the only person that recognized how his fights have been scored by HBO commentators. Or the way L. Merchant hates to give him credit for being what the sport is called. "BOXING" The man is a pure boxer with un-teachable defensive skills. I don't want to bore you with a lot of Floyds fights so I'm going to use the R. Hatton scoring & be done. After about 4 rounds Harold Lederman had R. Hatton winning the fight. I've watched that fight over 50++ times, in slow motion, reverse, with sound & without and I still don't see Hatton winning 3 to 1. Nor do see the ODH fight being close like this guy is calling it on HBO. If he was calling these fights like back in the day when they only had radio and not TV, public opinion of Floyd would be he's paying the judges. Between him & Merchant I don't know who's worst. Lederman for not being able to see a fight in front of him or Merchant for being too stupid to recognized a superior boxer. I've watched a lot of boxing since the late 60's when you could only see it on "The Wide World of Sport" on Saturdays around 2pm. I have never really seen or heard bad commentators like the ones that are out there now. My question to you is this; with the way these guys want to see Floyd lose do you think in a fight with Pac that the scoring would be fair? Thanks for your time, JC

BT: I would hope it would be fair, but judges are no different than Larry Merchant and Harold Lederman. No matter how unbiased people try to be when it comes to scoring fights, it can be difficult to ignore personal preferences. Larry Merchant, bless his old grumpy soul, enjoys seeing fighters fight, not box, so he prefers for fighters to go toe-to-toe in the center of the ring. I'm quite sure he appreciates the sweet science of the sport, but if he sees one fighter sticking and moving as opposed to another fighter pressing the action, he's probably going to slightly favor the latter. That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone allows those personal preferences to cloud their judgement, but it is a reality when it comes to scoring a fight. That's why it's best to never leave it in the hands of the judges. That being said, if I were Mayweather, I DEFINTELY wouldn't want Tom Kaczmarek judging anymore of my fights. I still have no idea how he had Oscar De La Hoya winning by a score of 115-113. He seems like he prefers fighters who press the action, even if they're not effectively landing any punches.

What made you think that Paquiao should abide by Mayweathers request of random blood testing? Do you have any proof that he is in PED?  As a Filipino, in our culture this is a total insult to our dignity. All descent Filipino will fight till death just to protect their dignity.  It's not about the money its about the pride being in question. Manny paquiao should not and must not go along with this stupid Idea because some coward freak is afraid and insecure of him. My apology to the sudden outburst but your writing is so one sided that it really make me upset. I really feel that you are mayweather kiss ass writer. Again my apology. Cheers/Denver

BT: Damn Denver, how you gonna call me a "mayweather kiss ass writer" and then apologize for doing so? LOL. First and foremost, I've NEVER said that Manny Pacquiao is taking any type of performance-enhancing drugs. The only reason why I think he should agree to Mayweather's request is because, simply put, I want to see them fight. In my opinion, it just seems like it would be easier for Pacquiao to simply agree than it would be to get Mayweather to drop the request. It's obvious that, for whatever reason, Mayweather wants all of his opponents to take the tests if they want an opportunity to fight him. Shane Mosley already took the tests without incident, and now Victor Ortiz has agreed to take them. In order to make this fight a reality, I don't see why Pacquiao can't do something that two other fighters have agreed to do before him. That's a pretty bold statement to say that ALL descent Filipinos will fight to the death to protect their dignity. In my opinion, people are people, no matter their race, so I'm pretty sure not everyone would be quite as eager as you to die for their dignity. If what you say is true though, then as big of an insult as you say Mayweather's request is to Pacquiao's dignity, I would think he would be eager to take the tests just to get in the ring and kick Mayweather's butt instead of trying to fight him in a United States court of law, which, ironically, he also appears to have no concern about when it comes to the issue of neutrality.

Hahaha Bob Arum done talked himself into a hot mess aint he!!!! Waddup Perc, waddup B. There's no way around it now cuz they on record. I will bet the house that once the fight is signed Manny will not train in the United States. He will train in the Philippines until 10 days before the fight so he can have his country's Anti-doping agency handle the Test. Bob Arum is a conniving lawyer, but mark my words gentlemen!!!! Once Manny wins against Marquez and Floyd plays his part, Bob is gonna strike again and keep showing the public whats said on Record. Have a Happy Day Guys!!!!!!!!! - Deric

BT: What's up Deric? Call me crazy, but something tells me that Mayweather is not going to be too keen on the idea of Congressman Pacquiao being tested by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the National Anti-Doping Organization of the Philippines. If Team Pacquiao is concerned about the neutrality of USADA, you can bet that Team Mayweather is going to be just as concerned about the PSC's neutrality when it comes to testing a politician. I also don't think Freddie Roach would allow Pacquiao to train that long in the Philippines. Roach has said time and time again that Manny's focus and intensity is better when they're training at Wild Card. Given that a showdown with Mayweather would be the biggest and most important fight of his career, I'm pretty sure Freddie would put his foot down and insist that the majority of training takes place in good 'ol Hollywood, California. Ultimately though, I don't think any of that really matters. Assuming both Floyd and Manny win their next bouts, I fully expect Bob Arum to contact his chosen media outlets and continue to school us on the art of non-negotiation.

Hi Ben, Once again you've provided clarity to Arum's doublespeak. You're quickly becoming one of the standout boxing writers around. What most surprises me about Arum's comments is how clumsy and conniving they appear to be. Is he not worried that journalists are actually going to think about what he is saying? Do you have any explanation to why Pacquiao & Co. are being so elusive regarding the testing issue? I almost get the impression that nobody is even discussing it with him. The only thing more asinine than Mayweather's conveniently-timed desire to want to clean up boxing, is Pacquiao's absolutely foolish excuse for not wanting to take a few blood tests. - Andrew

BT: Thanks for the support Andrew. Truth be told, I don't think anyone is discussing the testing issue at all with Manny Pacquiao, at least not before any of them speak publicly about it. You don't have to look any further than my interview with Michael Koncz to see that one person is writing the script for everyone else to follow. It seems to me like Bob Arum is making all the decisions when it comes to their stance on random drug testing and everyone else is being told after the fact. In just a two-day time frame, both Bob Arum and Michael Koncz were on two totally different pages when it came to stating their position, and that's not the first time it's happened since the request for Olympic-style drug testing was first made. On several occassions, Arum has made comments regarding their stance to the media that have caught Koncz totally off guard, prompting him to explain that he would have to "talk to Manny to see if that in fact was a statement that he made or not." I could be wrong, but I was always under the impression that Koncz's role as adviser was to help Pacquiao make decisions regarding his boxing career. Now if the adviser is being kept out of the loop regarding a decision as big as the drug testing issue, I can't help but to think that Pacquiao isn't being told what's going on either. Arum, in my opinion, has always been calling the shots. From day one, he's been the one giving us reason after reason after reason as to why Pacquiao is reluctant to agree to Mayweather's random drug testing request. At this point, he's probably confident that journalists aren't going to question anything that he says because, quite honestly, they haven't been. Why they choose to accept what he has to say as gospel is beyond me, but it would be nice to see some of those "professional" journalists ask him to explain himself in a little more detail. As for why they're being so "elusive"...well...I wouldn't say they're being elusive, but I do think that, thus far, they've been noncommittal for one reason and one reason only.....MONEY!



[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]

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