Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum concedes that whatever opinion he gives in the light of SB Nation's expose of Floyd Mayweather's IV injection before his May 2 bout against Manny Pacquiao could be interpreted as sour graping. After all, Pacquiao is his ward.
However, he questions the way the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) operates certain things such as being informed of Mayweather's IV almost three weeks after the "Fight of the Century" that Mayweather won in a "controversial" but unanimous decision, LA Times reports.
Arum is not the only one who has experienced botched communications from the USADA. Bob Bennett, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, disclosed that it had happened at least three times.
The last one was last week when USADA gave approval for UFC heavyweight Frank Mir to use the stimulant Adderall. After the commission opposed the USADA approval, the UFC was told by the anti-doping agency to stop taking Adderall.
The controversy pits the commission against the USADA which was informed by Pacquiao's camp that the Filipino boxer needs an injection of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory medicine, for his right shoulder injury sustained during training. However, because of USADA's alleged failure to communicate the request, the commission stopped Pacquiao's doctor from injecting the boxer.
While a USADA spokeswoman insisted that Mayweather's use of the IV was not banned under the commission's rule at that time, Bennett and Francisco Aguilar, the commission's chairman, disagree. They said that the IV must be administered in a hospital, not at Mayweather's house, and it needs clearance by the filing of a therapeutic-use exemption with the commission.
Mayweather said in a statement he did not break any of USADA or the commission's rules. According to HBO employee Thomas Hauser, doctors administered at Mayweather's home to the American boxer two infusions of saline, multivitamins and Vitamin C equivalent to 16 percent of a normal male's blood. That amount of fluids entering an athlete's body before a competition is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency because it could mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs which Mayweather denies taking.
Hauser saw Mayweather take the IV when USADA representatives went to the boxer's house to collect his urine sample after the weigh-in, reports CBS. The controversy erupted three days before Mayweather's last professional fight on Saturday against Haitian boxer Andre Berto.