Days before his potential retirement fight from the sport of boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is being accused of shady behavior regarding drug testing. Specifically, a longform piece by respected boxing writer Thomas Hauser for SB Nation accuses Mayweather of manipulating drug testing organization USADA to cover failed tests over the years.
Among other things, Hauser suggests Mayweather and his manager Al Haymon have a special relationship with USADA that allows them to essentially dictate terms to the testers. You may recall that Mayweather refused to fight Manny Pacquiao back in Pac-Man’s prime because Floyd accused Manny of using illegal PEDs. Mayweather, in contrast, tried to show he was different by announcing Olympic-style drug testing for every one of his fights beginning with his match with Shane Mosley in 2010.
Though Mayweather has tried to promote his legacy as one of making the sport clean because he demands Olympic-style testing for all his fights, Hauser exposes that as lip service.
Hauser says:
– Mayweather delays the official announcement of his fights until well after they leak publicly as a loophole for potential drug use. Mayweather does not engage in true year-round Olympic-style testing. Rather, he dictates terms of testing to USADA and tells them testing can only begin once the fight has been announced. This delay would theoretically allow Mayweather to use PEDs for the months leading up to fights without risking being caught. For example, Mayweather did not officially announce the match with Andre Berto until 39 days before the fight. News of the fight date had leaked several weeks earlier.
– Al Haymon exclusively uses USADA for all of his drug testing. USADA does not report full test results to state governing athletic committees. They also do not employee carbon isotope testing, which is the most effective drug test.
– Mayweather uses contracts that allow for therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) to be retroactively granted after someone tests positive for a prohibited drug. What’s the point of even having testing if you can just get a waiver for it after you fail a test? Mayweather gave Pacquiao a contract that included this clause.
– Mayweather was rumored to have failed drug tests for three consecutive fights but was granted retroactive TUEs by USADA.
– Mayweather’s people agreed to settle a defamation suit with Pacquiao quickly — and for more money than expected — as soon as Pacquiao’s side began demanding documents regarding Mayweather’s drug tests through USADA and the NSAC.
– Mayweather had abnormally low T/E (testosterone) ratios prior to the Robert Guerrero and Victor Ortiz fights. Low T/E ratios could indicate tampering/efforts to lower your ratio to cover up testosterone use.
– USADA regularly does not submit information to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. For instance, the NSAC would not allow Pacquiao to receive a Toradol pain-killing injection prior to their May fight, but Floyd was granted a retroactive TUE that was applied for and granted two weeks after the fight.
– USADA saw Mayweather using an illegal IV a day before his fight with Pacquiao but did not notify the athletic commission about it until weeks after the fight. The IV could be used to dilute the blood and cover up PED use.
As we have learned many times in the past, the more guilty the party, the more vigorous the defense. Why has Mayweather been so outspoken about PEDs and accusing Pacquiao? Perhaps because he had something to hide. After all, remember Pacquiao said Mayweather was only using the drug testing talk as an alibi not to fight him. And maybe this is why Mayweather refused to sign a waiver that would have paid Pacquiao $5 million for a failed drug test.
