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Mayweather-Pacquiao drug testing fine nonsense

Credit: Stephanie Trapp / Showtime

There’s a lot of nonsense being passed around right now, including the idea that Floyd Mayweather turned down a $5 million fine for a failed drug test before or after his May 2nd fight against Manny Pacquiao.

The USADA is providing the drug testing for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, and Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz has gone public that Mayweather declined to agree to a proposed $5 million fine for a failed test, while Pacquiao wanted the fine in place.

The problem is that there wasn’t such a stipulation in place — this proposed $5 million fine wasn’t in the contract which Mayweather and Pacquiao signed. We all know that both teams argued over every point in that contract, but this wasn’t a piece of it. In other words, what Koncz is saying now really holds no weight.

It’s not surprising, at least, that that’s what Leonard Ellerbe feels. In the same article, Ellerbe said:

“Michael Koncz is an idiot, and Manny Pacquiao should be ashamed to have him as his representative, in my opinion.

“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 [Bob Arum of Top Rank] 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.”

The important thing is that the camps did agree to the USADA testing. That will tell us what we need to know in terms of both fighters being clean for this fight. Whether or not you think there should be a $5 million fine is one thing, but the retroactive outcry that there isn’t is out of place.