Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao have been associated with one another for over a decade.
The super fight between the two didn’t happen in 2010 over promotional feuds and drug testing issues.
Mayweather and his camp requested that Pacquiao undergo random blood and urine testing done by USADA, while Pacquiao’s team rejected the drug testing requests and wanted a cut off date because the Filipino boxer felt if they took blood too close to fight night it would weaken him.
The drug testing contract was requested by Mayweather because of his suspicion that the former featherweight fighter going up to welterweight and go toe to toe with much bigger men wasn’t natural. Mayweather would continue speculating and taking shots on social media telling Pacquiao to take the tests.
The two Pay-Per-View attractions finally squared off in 2015 and both submitted to USADA drug testing with Mayweather winning a wide unanimous decision over the Filipino southpaw.
Shortly after the fight it was revealed by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach that he suffered a painful shoulder injury in training camp that required pain killer shots. Roach also said they were denied a painkiller shot on fight night because the commission said they never received any paperwork requesting permission.
Mayweather on the other hand was caught using an IV the day before the fight without first notifying USADA or the Nevada State Athletic Commission, he was given a retroactive use exemption. Many boxing fans questioned why he was given a pass when it is a violation to use something that is illegal in the state of Nevada without first filing a request.
Pacquiao and Roach insisted if there was no shoulder injury he would have won the fight and possibly hurt the undefeated American star.
Mayweather last fought in the boxing ring in 2017 against UFC superstar Conor McGregor and won by 10th round TKO. He recently announced on social media that he is coming back to boxing after being retired for a few years.
On episode #197 of The Drink Champs podcast on TIDAL, Mayweather told the hosts that he was curious how Manny Pacquiao was able to climb all the way from the flyweight division to junior middleweight.
“How a fighter [referring to Manny Pacquiao] can come from, I think 108 lbs (light flyweight) all the way to 154 lbs (junior middleweight), and knockout all these guys, to me it’s amazing. I guess he’s just blessed,” Mayweather said on the Drink Champs podcast.
“I don’t want to say anything because you know these broke fighters will go out there and try to sue, because as you know, I’m still sitting on the throne, and I’m still sitting on that bag,” continued Mayweather.
Mayweather was being careful on the words he used without blatantly suggesting Pacquiao’s climb in weight was due to PEDs because Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather over PEDs allegations, the two settled in 2012 and Mayweather was forced to retract any accusations toward the Filipino boxer.
The full episode of Drink Champs will air on Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 10:00 PM ET/PT on TIDAL.
