Arum Speaks Out on Hauser Article and Mayweather's IV
Posted by: Steve Kim on 9/10/2015 .
By Steve Kim
The biggest story surrounding Floyd Mayweather this week doesn't center around his bout against Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The story making headlines is a
piece penned by Thomas Hauser which outlines how Mayweather - against clearly outlined rules - was allowed to take an IV after his weigh-in for the Manny Pacquiao fight which took place on May 2nd.
When asked to comment on the stories and it's allegations, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, told BoxingScene.com on Thursday afternoon - "What comments could I have? It speaks for itself, it's disgusting."
Speaking of the IV that Mayweather took, Arum stated - "We weren't aware of it till we got notification sometime around May 21st but there was a confidentiality clause and we couldn't say anything."
As for filing a protest with the local Nevada commission, well, Arum isn't sure it's worth the time and effort. Mayweather out-pointed Pacquiao over twelve rather uneventful rounds.
"I'd have to consult with my attorneys. I'm not going to just file a protest which is going to go no place just to file a protest to make a grandstand play. If my attorneys say that we have merit to a protest we can accomplish something this far after the date, then we would do it,"said the former graduate of Harvard Law School, who added - "Now, I haven't practiced law in a long time, my seat-of-the-pants reactions - there's nothing we can do, realistically.
If Pacquiao himself wanted to pursue this, Arum opined - "Manny would only pursue this legally if his attorneys advised him to do it and my seat-of-the-pants reaction is that the attorneys would tell him that he couldn't realistically accomplish anything by doing it. But I don't know, the attorneys have to speak on this and obviously they're aware of it."
After five long years of rather contentious negotiating, Mayweather-Pacquiao was finally consummated and according to Arum, it came with the stipulation that USADA [United States Anti Doping Agency] had to be in charge of the drug testing protocols and enforcement.
"We tried - our lawyers - to do everything they could in drafting that contract and reviewing that contract to put in as many protections as we could," stated Arum. "But you can't handle everything. We were very unhappy with USADA but that was made plain to us that that was the only way the fight would happen."
So while Pacquiao was denied a cortisone shot for his ailing left shoulder in the dressing room prior to the fight, Mayweather was retroactively granted permission to use an IV after the weigh-in.
"It is what it is," said Arum. "That's why there's home teams and away teams. There are home teams and visiting teams."
Will Top Rank ever utilize USADA for one of their fights?
"I'm not going to say never but I think USADA's credibility certainly has to be questioned," Arum replied.
As for the culpability of the authorities who regulated this fight, all Arum would say is - "I'm a license holder with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and I have no comment on that commission."
http://www.boxingscene.com/arum-speaks-out-on-hauser-article-mayweathers-iv--95657