Pacquiao can go on without 'scared' Floyd

Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is willing to duke it out with Floyd Mayweather Jr. but will not mind proceeding with his planned next gig on March 13 without the flamboyant fighter, whom he feels is just “scared" of him. The proposed megabout between the two pound-for-pound superstars hit a snag when the camp of Mayweather insisted on getting blood samples for dope tests two days before fight night and the side of Pacquiao wouldn’t budge, preferring to have it in January, at least 30 days before the bout and immediately after all the action. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, in an interview with the Associated Press from Las Vegas, said he's not willing to negotiate much longer to make the fight. "I think it's over tomorrow (Friday in Manila) and we're going to another opponent if there is no agreement," Arum said. "It looks to me like they want a way out of the fight. Mayweather doesn't want to take a chance of losing." Pacquiao said he’s game for a showdown but maintained it’s all up to "Money Mayweather" to “shrug off his jitters." “Sa akin walang problema. Kung gusto niyang lumaban eh di fight kaming dalawa. Pero kung natatakot siya, eh palakasin muna niya ang loob niya," he said in a TV interview with GMA 7.
Like his promoter, Pacquiao expressed belief Mayweather’s “unreasonable demand" was either part of Floyd's mind games or simply a way out of what’s projected to be the biggest fight of the decade. “Gumagawa lang siya ng paraan or strategy niya yun para magalit ako, para ma-distract ako. O di kaya, ninenerbyos lang siya," said Pacquiao, who rejected the blood sampling so close to the fight since he claimed it would weaken him. Pacquiao’s Canadian adviser, Michael Koncz, said with the Mayweather setto hanging in the balance, their camp is already shopping for a different opponent for the Pacman. He rattled off the names of WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman, who fought in the undercard of Pacquiao’s Firepower" card with Miguel Cotto, and former light-welterweight boss Paul Malignaggi. The Mayweather camp has proposed the blood tests as part of an Olympic-style drug testing for the fight, purportedly meant to "protect" their fighter from Pacquiao's alleged use of performance-enhancing substances. The 31-year-old Pacquiao has denied such allegations and tested negative for dope for his fight with Cotto and all previous outings. - GMANews.TV with reports from AP