Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have only one more press conference scheduled before their big fight, but that doesn't mean things will be quiet before then. On Thursday, an adviser to Pacquiao went public with an interest tidbit: Mayweather won't agree to a $5 million fine if he were to test positive for any banned drug.
Things are not all quiet on the Mayweather-Pacquiao front. A little more than a week after the two fighters officially announced their May 2 bout, the two camps now appear at odds. The issue, according to Pacquiao's adviser, is Mayweather's unwillingness to agree to a $5 million penalty for any failed drug test.
"Today we were informed that Mayweather turned down the request," Michael Koncz, the adviser to Pacquiao, told ESPN on Thursday. "Manny had requested that there would be a reciprocal fine of $5 million for a failed drug test."
Both fighters have already signed agreements for the fight, as well as a separate agreement to allow the United States Anti-Doping Agency to oversee the random blood and urine tests conducted before the fight.
Imposing a $5 million fine on whichever fighter fails a drug test was Koncz's idea of a deterrent. But as Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe was quick to point out, the fine should have been proposed before the two sides signed a contract.
"Michael Koncz is an idiot, and Manny Pacquiao should be ashamed to have him as his representative, in my opinion," Ellerbe told ESPN. "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."
Drug testing, ironically, was the one thing that held up the fight from happening in late 2009 and early 2010.
