Pacquiao vs Mayweather Fight 2015 News: Mayweather Rejects $5 Million Penalty for Drug Test Fail
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has refused to agree to a $5 million fine should either he or Manny Pacquiao fail a drug test, according to the Filipino boxer's adviser, Michael Koncz.
"Today we were informed that Mayweather turned down the request," Koncz told ESPN. "Manny had requested that there would be a reciprocal fine of $5 million for a failed drug test."
The details of the drug testing were not written into the fight contract but were instead included in a separate agreement. Mayweather's adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, said that Koncz should have had those terms negotiated into the main contract.
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"Manny Pacquiao should be ashamed to have [Michael Koncz] as his representative, in my opinion," said Ellerbe to ESPN.com. "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 some time."
Drug testing was one of the main reasons for a collapse in negotiations five years ago. When both sides first negotiated the bout in late 2009 and early 2010, they had agreed to all aspects of the deal except for the drug-testing protocol. Mayweather insisted on random, Olympic-style blood and urine testing, but Pacquiao declined to agree to the specific form drug testing.
Not long after that, Pacquiao sued Mayweather for defamation and slander for saying that he had used performance-enhancing drugs, which Pacquiao has repeatedly denied. The case was ultimately settled out of court with Mayweather paying Pacquiao an undisclosed seven-figure sum.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Pacquiao was tested for the first time last Saturday when he ws visited in Los Angeles. The boxers' historic fight will take place on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
