Schaefer says they're still open to negotiate | LA Times
Despite the Bobfather saying the fight is off, Golden Boy chief Richard Schaefer says he's still open to negotiate, and has suggested arbitrating the blood testing issue. Arbitration? Unless they can get someone with real knowledge of the situation and good experience, might as well just agree to a coin flip. If they want to go this route, may I suggest Steve Smoger, whose day job is being a judge in Atlantic City, as the arbitrator?
Pacquiao suing Golden Boy over steroids allegations | ABS CBN News
From Top Rank's press release: "Saying that his character and person has been questioned, maligned, damaged and tarnished by baseless and false accusations, pound-for-pound boxing king Manny Pacquiao and promoter Top Rank Inc. announced today the filing of a lawsuit within the next few days against the Mayweathers, Floyd Sr. and Jr., et al, and Golden Boy Promotions." As a lawyer, I think they'd have a tough time with a slander case. Richard Schafer (and Arum himself) is a lawyer too, and probably knows this, so don't expect this to deter Golden Boy from continuing with this line of negotiations. They'll just be a little more careful about how they phrase things.
Jose Sulaiman weighs in on Pacquiao-Mayweather | Dallas Boxing Examiner
Just what we needed. For the record, the head of the WBC says that drug testing should be in the hands of local boxing commissions and the sanctioning bodies. Big surprise there. More fun though. Sulaiman says the WBC is going to try to set up a 4 to 6 man tournament to try to establish a new star, though he doesn't mention which weight class. The WBC is also going to try to implement a pension for boxers, as well as a drug rehab program for former fighters.
Timothy Bradley laying in waiting | Boxing Scene
Bradley has already said he'd be more than happy to face either Pacquiao or Mayweather if their fight falls through, and now he's backing off in saying that he'd require drug testing, which was just a stupid, stupid, stupid tactical error on the part of Gary Shaw. Pacquiao pulls out of a fight because of blood testing and you say you'll require the same blood testing? Do you actually want to get a fight? Anyway, while I'd love to see either one face Bradley, which would be a great fight in either case, I'm afraid he just doesn't have the drawing power to make it happen. Devon Alexander has called out Pacquiao as well.
Mayweather to fight in the UK instead? | The Guardian
The Guardian assesses the possibility that Floyd may come to the UK to fight Matthew Hatton (or someone else) instead of Pacquiao. Their verdict (much like mine for this entire situation): it's just part of the posturing to get a better negotiating position and to help hype up the inevitable fight. Steve Kim has suggested (via twitter) that if Floyd does want to fight in the UK, Kell Brook would make more sense.
Victor Conte weighs in on the Pacquiao drug testing | Doghouse Boxing
At least this one's a bit more relevant than Jose Sulaiman. Conte thinks the blood testing is legitimate and important in order to test for EPO and blood doping, which can't be detected via urinalisys. He also talks about the way that the substances can be used most efficiently, and how that effects the cycles as to when someone will test positive and negative. It's somewhat interesting to see Conte speaking frankly about this kind of thing, which I'm sure was a lot of the advice he was giving clients in his BALCO days.
Malignaggi on the table for Pacquiao | GMA News
If the fight falls through, the two options Bob Arum is currently considering for a March 13 fight are Yuri "the Kosher Krusher" Foreman and Paulie Malignaggi. Has anyone rehabilitated his image as much as Malignaggi in the last six months? After his loss to Hatton, he looked like he was done as a main event fighter, but a controversial loss and win over Juan Diaz later, and he's being mentioned for two huge fights (Manny Pacquiao or Amir Khan), and seems to be pretty much guaranteed to get one or the other.
Oscar de la Hoya on Mayweather-Pacquiao | The Ring
Oscar makes the argument a lot of fans are making: "If you have nothing to hide, then do the test." Of course, Oscar isn't exactly impartial on this matter.