"For the first time, you have professional athletes in the sport of boxing approaching us to implement an anti-doping program and those athletes are now fully enrolled in this program," stated United States Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis T. Tygart as he, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe held a conference call to discuss the drug testing program for the upcoming clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley.

"At this point, both athletes have agreed to USADA's testing protocols, including both blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere at any time. Our staff has met with each athlete and their camps to explain the procedures and the process and each athlete has submitted their whereabouts information so that they can be located for this unannounced blood and urine testing," he revealed, giving details about the procedures that both fighters will be subjected to. "There is no limit to the number of tests that we can complete on these boxers. Of course, those will be distributed among the boxers in a fair manner. Any positive test will be published following a thorough legal process provided under our protocols. And of course if one or more of the boxers commits an anti-doping rule violation, WADA code penalties will be put in place."

MORE DETAILS FROM TYGART BELOW...

"This really started, I guess, back at the end of last year when Floyd's camp and Golden Boy approached us to learn more about our program."

"This is our program. They're held to the same standard that all Olympic athletes around the world are being held to, which is the WADA code standard, so as I mentioned previously, they're in our competition testing pool, they're providing us their whereabouts, they're subject to the same list of prohibited substances that the World Anti-Doping Agency propagates."

"The sanctions are WADA code sanctions, so there's a 2-year penalty/suspension that will be put in place and disqualification in advance of this fight if a boxer tests positive."

"There are at least 4 potent performance-enhancing drugs that are not detected in urine, including Human Growth Hormone, HBT, which is Homologous Blood Transfusion, HBOC, and that's spelled H B O C, which is synthetic hemoglobin, and then the passport program...It is just simply false to say that urine can detect everything that you would be concerned about. It can't. You'd have to do blood. There's no other reason we would be doing blood. If we didn't have to do blood to have an effective program, why would we do it? It makes absolutely no sense."

"We did education with both fighters last weekend and they provided there whereabouts information to us, so we know where to find them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they have an obligation to update that as the weeks progress. They're subject to testing, both blood and urine, no advance notice at any time all the way up until and after the fight."

"We obviously internally have a number that we think will provide the maximum effectiveness to deter and to detect,  but we won't provide that because, obviously, you know, athletes who wanted to circumvent, if they knew how many tests or how to guess of how many tests, could do things that might allow them to cheat and get away with it."

"There's no limit on the number of tests."



MAYWEATHER AND MOSLEY SET TO BEGIN USADA DRUG TESTING ON MONDAY

Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley will begin the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) gold standard anti-doping program on Monday, March 22 as they continue to prepare for Mayweather vs Mosley "Who R U Picking?" set to take place on Saturday, May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View ® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.   

It is the first time in history that athletes from any U.S. professional sport have reached out and demanded World Anti-Doing Code compliant drug testing, setting both a boxing and sport precedent.

Both Mayweather and Mosley have agreed to the gold-standard, anti-doping program, the most stringent in sport, as outlined and mandated by USADA. The program involves no-advance-notice sample collection of the athletes' blood and urine prior to and after the fight so that all banned substances, some of which do not show up in urine alone, are tested for thoroughly, and with both athletes subjected to the testing program leading up to as well as after the fight.

"I am excited that Shane Mosley and I are willing to take these tests to ensure a fair fight on May 1," said Mayweather.  "I just want to show the world that boxing is a clean sport and it is my hope that all fighters will take a similar stance and responsibility which reflects sportsmanship at the highest level and sets a new standard for safety in boxing."

"I think the testing program is a great idea and I did not hesitate for a minute about agreeing to it," said Mosley.  "Let's hope that the rest of the boxing world follows Floyd's and my example."

Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions said, "Floyd is leading the way for changing the sport and I commend him for that.  Some people have asked why he has not asked for it in the past but it is never too late to take a stand on an issue that is prevalent in all sports today and ask for something that can only have positive results on the future of boxing."

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said, "Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and I commend him for agreeing to participate in a testing process that can only help the integrity of the sport.  I commend both of these fighters for setting a new precedent in the sport and giving others an opportunity to reflect on its current state and how, as a collective group, we can continue to make the sport better, safer and fairer for anyone who steps in to the ring."

"I believe today is another watershed moment in the advancement of anti-doping," said USADA CEO, Travis T. Tygart. "For the first time, we're seeing professional athletes in the sport of boxing approach us to implement our program, and take ownership for the integrity of their sport. This is courageous action and we are proud to be a part of this effort to help further advance the rights of clean athletes to participate in a safe, level and drug-free arena."