Mayweather-Pacquiao: Nevada Orders Drug Tests (But Not Blood Tests)

According to Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports the Nevada Athletic Commission has ordered drug tests for both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. From Rogers’ report:

Even though the proposed March 13 fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao has not yet been finalized, as both men are licensed fighters in Nevada they are subject to random tests. […]

Lundvall insisted that differing medical opinion and information on the efficacy of various testing systems, made it difficult to ascertain which was the optimum program to use. However, she claimed she was confident the method employed by NAC was effective in catching cheats.

And SB Nation’s boxing blog, Bad Left Hook, had the following reaction:

The testing will be urine only, no blood, and has come about because as both fighters are licensed to box in Nevada, they are subject to random testing. The publicizing of this move and the fact that it’s not quite random if everyone knows it’s coming seems a bit strange overall, and I’m not sure I get what the point is.

Truthfully, if we’re not going to avoid reality or be all wishy-washy, the tests that Mayweather’s camp wants are the optimum program to use, and there’s absolutely no question about that whatsoever. By comparison, the tests Nevada uses are probably garbage — not that they’re totally ineffective or useless or anything, but they’re not even close to the gold standard of drug testing.

So while the Nevada Athletic commission is being very showy about ordering these drug tests, it’s really nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, it’s an attempt to distract boxing fans while the commission decides whether to follow Mayweather’s lead and order blood tests. For now, this “random” urine test—that the fighters know about in advance—will have to suffice.