Remember how great the news was when we heard that a possibly failed drug test for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight came with a 4-year ban and a possible 5 million dollar penalty? Along with that, the other fighter would choose if the fight would go on if his opponent tested positive. But it seems that there is controversy regarding the 5 million dollar penalty for a failed drug test.
The two men mostly making the news is Pacquiao’s advisor Michael Koncz and Mayweather Promotion’s CEO Leonard Ellerbe.
Today we were informed that Mayweather turned down the request,” Koncz said to ESPN.com. “Manny had requested that there would be a reciprocal fine of $5 million for a failed drug test.”
Ellerbe’s fired back to the words of Michael Koncz.
“Michael Koncz is an idiot, and Manny Pacquiao should be ashamed to have him as his representative, in my opinion,” Ellerbe told ESPN.com. “It’s obvious he didn’t read the contract. Why would he have his fighter sign something he was not happy with? The deal was negotiated up and down by his promoter on behalf of Manny with Floyd and Mayweather Promotions, and it’s been well documented in the media for quite some time. If this moron didn’t convey his fighter’s wishes when the negotiation was going on, that’s their problem. This is a lame-ass attempt to generate publicity.”
In a meeting with the media at the presser last week Bob Arum did weigh in on the 5 million dollar penalty.
Arum responded to the question by saying, “We proposed the 5 million dollar penalty if either guy failed the drug test but the requested not because they were afraid, to be honest. But they rejected because they said if Manny failed the drug test, we’ll collect a lot more than 5 million dollar. I told Manny and Michael Koncz that if Mayweather failed a drug test, believe me we’ll collect more than the 5 million dollars. That’s the reason the fighters rejected the 5 million dollar penalty, Not because they were afraid to fail the test. But because they would collect more if someone failed the rest.”
However, that didn’t stop Koncz from going after the Mayweather side. More quotes from the ESPN.com report.
“They have made derogatory statements for years about Manny [supposedly using PEDs], and now we challenged them by asking for the $5 million fine, and they refused to do it. It’s disheartening,” Koncz said. “We were still discussing the penalty. We’ve been going back and forth about it for the past three or four weeks. We hoped that we could sign that agreement around the same time as the agreement with USADA. [The Mayweather camp] is saying, ‘Why wasn’t it brought up for the main contract?’ Why does it have to be brought up for the main contract? Everything in the main contract pertains to the co-promotion and the promoters. You can argue all day if [a penalty agreement] should be with the USADA contract or the main contract. What do you have to lose or gain in that argument? It’s a simple thing — if you fail, you pay the other guy $5 million. The issue is simple — are you willing to agree to a penalty of $5 million? The drug-testing terms and any penalty, that’s between the fighters, not the promoters.”
What Koncz is saying legally there is no recourse if Mayweather was to fail a test, whether that’s true or not is another question.
“We have no recourse. We can’t force Floyd into something. But we gave them an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and they wouldn’t. I won’t speculate why. To me, there is no legitimate argument. We know we’re clean. That’s why Manny said he would pay $5 million if he tested dirty. Manny was surprised [Mayweather refused]. He can’t figure out why they wouldn’t agree to it when Floyd is always talking about cleaning up the sport of boxing.”
Ellerbe responded by saying, “If Manny Pacquiao tested positive it is going to cost him a whole lot more than $5 million. All parties signed a contract agreeing to every term. Where has this idiot Koncz been? It sounds like he didn’t read the documents they signed. No wonder why his fighter is always confused. It sounds like that idiot is suggesting there’s a $5 million price tag if Manny comes up positive. That sounds suspicious. All I know is we welcome random testing as we always have.”
In reality is the fight going to be stopped because of a failed drug test? Probably not. If you look into USADA’s history in boxing, it has been sketchy. Erik Morales failed a drug test before his fight with Danny Garcia in Brooklyn in 2012, and the fight went on. There were rumors of a destroyed failed drug test between Winky Wright and Peter Quillin that fight went on. The reality is the fight will go on.
Is it right? No, it’s not. Is this USADA testing really random if it’s only being used while the fighters are in camp? No, because there are chemical experts and science experts in the world that know how to cycle athletes on and off substances so they won’t be caught. At the end of the day unless it’s year-round random testing, we’ll never know exactly who’s clean and who’s not. The 5 million dollar penalty is much to do about nothing because barring a major injury nothing is stopping this fight.
