Pacquiao Says Blood Test Favors Mayweather

CHICAGO, Illinois – Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao said on March 3 that if he agreed to the blood test being pushed by Floyd Mayweather Jr., the move would have favored the trash-talking undefeated fighter. Mayweather wants Pacquiao to undergo Olympic-style drug testing to prove their accusation that the top pound-for-pound fighter is not using steroids. The Mayweathers, including father Floyd Sr. and uncle Roger, want the testing to be done a few days before the day of the fight. Pacquiao said the move would have favored Mayweather Jr. “because he is bigger than me." Pacquiao, who once again graced “Jimmy Kimmel Live!" of popular TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, said that he would only agree to a blood test if it was done much earlier than the scheduled fight so it will level the playing field between them. The seven-division world champion said he agreed that blood be drawn from him 24 days before the fight and a day after the fight but Mayweather balked at his suggestion. He felt Mayweather was not ready to fight him “that’s why he was imposing conditions on me. The job of a fighter is to train hard for the fight, not to change the rules of the fight." When pressed if he is ready to fight Mayweather, Pacquiao said, “I am ready to fight anybody." He said he already saw Mayweather fight Miguel Cotto in New York. Had Pacquiao and Mayweather agreed to the terms of the proposed fight, they would have been facing each other on March 13 at the Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Instead, they are set to battle separate opponents. Pacquiao is staking his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Joshua Clottey on March 13 at the Cowboy Stadium while Mayweather is facing “Sugar" Shane Mosley at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 1. Mayweather and Mosley have agreed to an Olympic-style pre-fight blood test that Pacquiao did not agree on when talks are ongoing for his proposed match-up with Floyd Jr. Pacquiao told Kimmel that he has trained hard for his upcoming fight with Clottey. “Clottey is bigger and a former world champion. I never underestimate my opponents." Wearing a Philippine flag-emblazoned red jacket, Pacquiao also told Kimmel that he is set to start his campaign for a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives after his fight with Clottey. Pacquiao has been longing to become a lawmaker since 2007, when he vied for a House seat for the district of his hometown in General Santos City but got knocked out by political heavyweight Darlene Antonino-Custodio. The 31-year-old fighter is making another Congressional-bid, this time in the home district of his wife Jinkee in Sarangani. He’s set to face off with yet another formidable rival in the Chiongbian family. – GMANews.TV Editor’s note: Email the author at lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net.