Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has made his "final offer" to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions regarding the drug testing controversy that may postpone or outright cancel the scheduled March 13 fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Were Arum's offer agreed to, both fighters would submit to unlimited random urinalysis, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission would decide on January 19 if further testing is really necessary.
From the LA Times article:
"We will allow Golden Boy to present experts to the commission to explain why additional testing is required, and we'll explain our position," Arum said. "Then we'll let the Nevada commission decide. If Nevada says we need to do more testing, we'll do more, but if they don't, we won't."
...
"If the commission says both fighters have to give blood as they're walking into the ring, we'll do it," Arum said. "But I want the commission saying it, not some outside group with an agenda. If [the Mayweather camp] say no to this, that shows they don't want the fight."
What may provide a stumbling block here is the fact that Keith Kizer of the NSAC seems to have his mind made up on the matter, and he offers a solid point:
"I'm pleased with our processes as they are now. They were good enough for Pacquiao-Cotto and for Mayweather-Marquez."
Kizer says that if promoters petition, they'll consider going further, but reading between the lines a bit, I don't think Nevada is exactly bursting at the seams to go into further testing. Golden Boy and Mayweather would have to present something a lot more startling than baseless rumors. Pacquiao has fought 11 times in Nevada and passed their tests on each occasion. The commission is going to need a really, really good reason from Mayweather's team, and I don't think they have one. If you boil it all the way down, their arguments probably amount to, "He's really good and has done some truly amazing things." That's just not good enough for a commission to change the way they do their drug testing.
Arum says he wants an agreement by Monday (tomorrow) or that he'll finish negotiations for Pacquiao to face Paulie Malignaggi instead.
How about a poll? Yeah, a poll!