Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio have consented to an U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Olympic-style testing program ahead of their mega-bout in Las Vegas on 2 May, the national agency has announced.
The welterweight showdown between unbeaten American ‘Money’ Mayweather (47-0) and Filipino, ‘Pacman’ Pacquaio (57-5-2) is projected to be the most lucrative card in the history of the sport.
Initial negotiations collapsed in 2010 over Mayweather’s demand for random drug testing, but USADA on Friday confirmed that both fighters have agreed to the rules established under the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) lists of banned substances.
“It’s a strong statement of the importance of clean and safe competition to have these two fighters voluntarily agree to have a WADA level anti-doping program implemented for this fight,” said USADA CEO Travis Tygart in a statement.
“We commend them for their stand for clean sport and the message it sends to all those who want to compete clean at the highest levels of all sport.”
USADA will perform an out-of-competition testing and in-competition testing prior and post fight respectively.
Both fighters have already received education on the USADA program and have enrolled in USADA’s registered testing pool by disclosing their whereabouts so they can be located for testing.
Mayweather and Pacquaio agreed to both blood and urine testing “without reservation”.
Samples collected by USADA will be sent to a WADA-accredited laboratory for analysis including testing for human growth hormone (HGH) and erythropoietin (EPO).
USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission are working collaboratively and will share all relevant information about the program. WADA will also be notified of all sample test results.
