Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr went to mediation in a bid to salvage their March 13 mega-fight.
Representatives of the two fighters were to meet yesterday with a California mediator in an effort to reach agreement on blood testing issues that have threatened to scupper the highly anticipated bout.
The mediator, retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, was used by promoters for both fighters three years ago to resolve a dispute over promotional rights to Pacquiao.
Lee Samuels, a spokesman for Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, confirmed that Arum would be in Santa Monica, California, for the talks.
Pacquiao has been angered by the Mayweather camp’s insistence on doping control blood tests in the buildup to their welterweight showdown — a demand that has the March 13 fight in doubt.
Mayweather has said the blood tests, which could detect substances not found by urine tests, were vital to ensure a fair fight, although blood tests are not routinely used in boxing.
Pacquiao filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Las Vegas last week alleging that Mayweather and others defamed him by falsely saying he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Spokesmen for both sides, however, said the lawsuit would not necessarily stop the fight from going ahead.
Pacquiao, who has supplanted Mayweather in the estimation of many as boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, has earned titles in seven weight classes.
Their fight could bring each as much as US$40 million. It had appeared to be virtually set after squabbles were settled over issues including the division of the purse and the type of gloves to be used, but the drug-test issue has proved a sticking point.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but