MAYWEATHER MAIL: WHAT'S UP WITH USADA RESULTS FOR MAYWEATHER-ORTIZ?

By Ben Thompson | September 28, 2011

FightHype's recent coverage of Mayweather vs. Ortiz, as well as the exclusive Mayweather Aftermath videos that followed, sparked a ton of reaction, both good and bad, from fans and media alike regarding Floyd Mayweather's actions and his future plans in the sport. The emails have not stopped pouring in since the conclusion of the September 17 bout. 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 Mayweather, Ortiz, and USADA.

Hi Ben, How's everything goin? I make this email real short. Just wanna ask if you have any chance to check from NSAC or USADA what's the result of the OSDT? Some fans if not all are eager to know if Floyd walked the talk. Thanks and more power! Jude Cortez

BT: You know, for some reason, any time I see the words "more power", that always tips me off that the person might be a Manny Pacquiao fan. LOL. I'm not sure what you mean when you say "walked the talk", but if you're wondering if USADA did indeed conduct testing for this fight, I can confirm, because I was there, that from the minute the post-fight press conference was over, a USADA representative accompanied Floyd Mayweather from the arena to McDonalds and finally back to his home, where 3 more USADA representatives were waiting for him. At about 4:00 AM, they took their final samples and then left around 4:20 AM. I personally haven't bothered to contact anyone about the results, but I think I heard that the Nevada State Athletic Commission said that test for all fighters came up clean.

I'm not sure how you get such great, unprecedented access to Floyd but please keep uploading those videos to Fight Hype. Your videos are tantalizing peeks into the greatest fighter of our generation. -Josh Marzan

BT: Thanks Josh. Like I said in one of the videos, I'm just blessed. As the saying goes, real recognize real and I think every fighter, not just Mayweather, but every fighter we speak to recognizes the fact that we support them to the fullest and are only interested in letting them speak the truth to their fans. Like I've said in the past, I think a lot of writers want to be celebrities themselves, therefore they take advantage of fighters at times and twist their words in hopes of making a big story or being the first to reveal a scoop. That's simply not something that we're interested in and I think fighters appreciate the fact that we give them a platform to speak to their fans raw and uncut.

Ben, You know I have to commend you on your Mayweather videos on FightHype. You get a lot out of him and some real stuff comes out that's great and truly entertaining. I have to admit I can't say I'm the biggest fan of him at times but as of late he really has a way of making you like him especially on these videos. I hope he is able to get over his legal woes and this stuff is not true and he keeps boxing. Keep up the good work with what you do as well. I go to Vegas all the time and actually need to get myself to a fight one of these days and hopefully that will be a Mayweather fight because they always entertain, haha. Be good, Todd

BT: Thanks Todd. I think sometimes, people forget that fighters are no different than the rest of us. At the end of the day, we all have our flaws...some more than others...but you never truly know someone until you get an opportunity to meet them in person. Not everything is at it seems. I mean, until recently, how many fans would have believed that Oscar De La Hoya had a drug and alcohol problem? How many fans would have believed that Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe had a drug problem? How many fans would have believed that Sugar Ray Leonard was molested and had a drug problem? There's so many things that fans think they know about a fighter based on what's given to them on the surface. The reality, however, is that most fans don't know the half of it. That's why we give every fighter a platform to speak the truth in hopes of getting them closer to their fans. I would never say that anyone is a saint, especially when we're talking about fighters, however, I've gotten to know quite a few of them and I can honestly say that Floyd Mayweather is probably the realist that I've spoken too. Don't get me wrong, there's a few out there just as real as him, but truth be told, you'd actually be surprised at the number of fighters who act differently off the record than they do on the record. I'm not sure how Floyd's legal issues will play out, but from my conversations with him, he never really sounds too concerned about them. If you haven't been to a big fight in Vegas before, you definitely need to make that a priority and start planning your next trip. LOL.

Hey Ben, I don't know if you'll be doing mayweather mail anymore but, since you have crazy access to the champ could you ask him if he'll ever be in any video games again? Fight night round 2 was a long time ago. ~aj

BT: I'm sure he would do it if the money was right. As you know, lending the rights to your likeness for a video game is a business move, so I can only assume that, thus far, the numbers haven't been right to warrant Floyd making such a move.

Seriously man, does anything that comes out of your mouth not completely in favor of Mayweather. Every single article you post on Fighthype.com written by you is completely Mayweather biased. Its all done to make Mayweather look good and Pacquiao look bad. Whats the deal? The Oscar De La Hoya piece was extremely biased in favor of Mayweather. I've never seen a word of criticism penned by you directed toward Pretty Boy. Honestly, I don't even come to Fighthype.com anymore becuase its just too biased. - Stanley Yelnats

BT: You don't come to FightHype.com anymore? Then how did you know about the Oscar De La Hoya piece? LOL. What's the deal? Well, you tell me! Personally, I just think you see what you want to see. I mean, Mayweather just fought last weekend, and since then, there's been a lot of talk regarding the outcome of that fight. Considering that I personally covered the event, OF COURSE you're going to see a lot of items (articles, interviews, videos, etc.) with my name on it as it relates to Floyd Mayweather, but don't act like I haven't put up anything as it relates to Victor Ortiz as well. I just happen to believe that Ortiz was in the wrong for his repeated headbutts, whereas Mayweather was in the right when he served up the 2-piece that brought an end to the fight. If that makes me biased because I agree with the exact same things that Lennox Lewis, Bernard Hopkins, Steve Cunningham, Antonio Tarver, James Toney, Teddy Atlas and several others have said, then so be it...I have no problems being amongst that crowd. Truth be told, I don't even know why you think it has anything to do with Manny Pacquiao as I haven't mentioned his name in quite some time. The only stuff I've put up regarding Pacquiao is the ongoing financial issues he's been dealing with that VisionQwest discovered, and honestly, that's more focused on allegations they're making about Bob Arum and Michael Koncz as opposed to anything Pacquiao is or is not doing. I've written plenty of positive things about Manny Pacquiao, particularly when he's about to fight. Obviously you must have missed the series of interviews I did with Alex Ariza leading up to Manny's fight with Shane Mosley. I suggest you go visit the FightHype archives and do a search on all the positive things regarding Manny Pacquiao. Before you start playing the "biased" card, perhaps you should look in the mirror and ask yourself if maybe you're the one who's truly biased towards one particular fighter. Anyway, here's a list of juar some of the POSITIVE things I've done regarding Pacquiao: