Floyd “Money” Mayweather made his upcoming fight with welterweight mega-star and five-time world champion Sugar Shane Mosley, official today when he signed the contract that pits the two fighters against each other on Saturday, May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a mega-bout which will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View®.

“This one is definitely for the fans as I wasn’t going to waste anyone’s time with a meaningless tune-up bout and asked to fight Shane immediately,” said Mayweather. “I have said ever since I came back to the sport that I only wanted to fight the best. I think Shane is one of the best, but come May 1, he still won’t be great enough to beat me.”

“I have always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming true,” said Mosley, who signed his side of the deal last Friday in Las Vegas. “I am already in great shape and ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster and better than he is. I will have no problem beating him.”

In addition to the fight being one of the most competitive and talked about contests in each of the fighters’ careers, Mayweather and Mosley have agreed to Olympic-style drug testing for the fight.

“Floyd has been trying to make this fight for the last 10 years, so he is extremely excited about the opportunity to face Shane,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions. “He can’t wait to extend his undefeated record and perform at the highest level. More importantly, he is also happy to set the precedent for random blood testing in order to ensure fair and safe contests for all fighters.”

“When two champions of this caliber meet in the ring, you can expect nothing but excellence and that is what we are going to see on May 1,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy Promotions. “Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and I commend him for not only agreeing to the fight against Mayweather, but also agreeing to participate in a testing process that can only help the integrity of the sport.”

“Mayweather-Mosley is a showdown of superstars that fans have been talking about for years”, said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. “It has all the elements of a pay-per-view mega-fight.”

A 1996 Olympic Bronze medalist for the United States, Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO’s) has since gone on to strike Gold in the professional ranks, winning six world titles in five weight classes to firmly establish himself as one of the most elite fighters of his era. With dominating wins over the likes of world champions Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Mayweather was on a meteoric rise to hall of fame greatness when he announced his retirement from the ring in 2008. But he left the door open for a return if the right challenge presented itself and after 18 months of a much needed physical and emotional break from the ring, he returned to boxing on September 19, 2009 with a dominating and spectacular victory over future Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez.

A future Hall of Famer with five world titles to his name, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO’s) has ruled the lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions over his storied 16-year career and at 38 years old, the Pomona, Calif. native seems to be getting better and better as the years pass. Winner of seven of his last eight fights dating back to 2005, Mosley has defeated the likes of Fernando Vargas (twice), Luis Collazo and Ricardo Mayorga, but his most recent victory also was one of his most spectacular — a ninth round stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January 2009 to win the welterweight world title for the third time.

The 12-round welterweight battle is a highly competitive match-up that already has sports fans across the world buzzing to see two of the sport’s biggest names meet in the squared circle in the premier boxing match-up of 2010.

More information on Mayweather vs. Mosley, including ticket prices, HBO Pay- Per- View information and press tour dates and cities, will be announced shortly.

The stars will fight, big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas! Jerry Jones and Bob Arum, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and chairman of Top Rank, respectively, announced today that Cowboys Stadium would be the site of the MANNY PACQUIAO vs. JOSHUA CLOTTEY World Welterweight Championship fight taking place on Saturday, March 13 and broadcast Live on Pay-Per-View. Formal news conferences at Cowboys Stadium and in New York next week will provide details on tickets and the pay-per-view broadcast. Pacquiao vs. Clottey will be promoted by Top Rank, in association with the Dallas Cowboys and MP Promotions. Pacquiao and Clottey boast a combine record of 85-6-2 (59 KOs) — a winning percentage of 91% and a victory by knockout ratio of nearly 70%.

“I have wanted to bring a major boxing event to North Texas for many years, so why not bring in the biggest and the best?” asked Jones. “Manny Pacquiao is boxing’s No. 1 pound for pound attraction and the world champion. Manny defending his title against Joshua Clottey is not just a great fight, it’s a great event, and one we can showcase to the fullest in Cowboys Stadium. We’re going to promote this like it was the Super Bowl..”

Cowboys Stadium will be configured for 40,000 fans for the event.

“Jerry Jones knows exactly how big and important this event is which is why it was so easy to put this deal together,” said Arum. “As a lifelong Giants fan I had to receive special dispensation from Steve Tisch, the Giants’ Chairman and Executive Vice President, to bring this event to Cowboys Stadium and he blessed the deal. If Jerry could sell me on Cowboys Stadium and the North Texas market, you know he is going to have no problems selling out Cowboys Stadium on March 13. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and promote Manny’s debut as World Welterweight Champion. Manny Pacquiao is the lone star of boxing. There isn’t a more appropriate place in the world for him to fight!”

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, will be defending the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title he earned in his last fight, produced by a 12th round knockout of three-time world champion Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao’s victory made him the first man to win seven titles in as many different weight divisions, with his last three world championships coming by way of knockout. The consensus Fighter of the Year for the third time in the past four years, Pacquiao’s resume features victories over future Hall of Famers, including Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Lopez and Cotto. His knockout victories over Cotto and Hatton made him the 2009 pay-per-view king, exceeding two million buys combined.

Clottey (35-3, 21 KOs), a native of Accra, Ghana, now fighting out of Bronx, NY, captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title in 2008 by trouncing three-time world champion Zab Judah. His career has been a highlight reel of thrills featuring victories over two-division world champion Diego Corrales and undfeated contender Richard Gutierrez and a close decision losse to world champion Antonio Margarito. In his last fight Clottey lost a controversial split decision to defending WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden. Clottey is currently world-rated No. 1 by the WBO and No. 4 by the World Boxing Association (WBA).

On December 30, 2009, pound-for-pound boxing champion Manny Pacquiao filed a lawsuit in Nevada federal court against Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Floyd Mayweather, Sr., Roger Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions, LLC, and Golden Boy Promotions executives Oscar de la Hoya, and Richard Schaefer for making false and defamatory statements accusing Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs. The complaint is attached. The lawsuit claims the Mayweathers, de la Hoya, and Schaefer knew that Pacquiao has never taken performance-enhancing drugs, knew their statements were false, but made them anyway out of “ill-will, spite, malice, revenge, and envy.”

Pacquiao has retained Daniel Petrocelli of the Los Angeles-based law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. About the filing of the complaint, Petrocelli stated: “Manny Pacquiao’s achievements come from God-given talent and an indefatigable work ethic — not steroids. He cannot and will not allow others to deliberately misrepresent his years of hard work and tarnish his reputation.”

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Las Vegas, Nevada, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages for defendants’ wrongful conduct.

Pac Hits Back At Mayweather

Boxing’s pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao became more incensed at Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Sr. and executives of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) for twisting facts and coming up with false statements that intended to cover up the mess that they created even as they put the blame on the Filipino and his team for the snag of talks to make the projected biggest fight in history from happening.

“I can’t believe these guys can lie without batting an eyelash and they would even make it appear that I am the culprit for the delay of the fight and saying that I don’t want it to happen,” said Pacquiao in Tagalog, as he released part of the information that he has been keeping—proof that Mayweather Jr. directly accused him of performance enhancement drugs (PED) use..

“Liars go to hell. They should be man enough and own up to their words,” said Pacquiao, as he recalled information that pointed out to Mayweather Jr. categorically stating that “the Philippines has the best (performance) enhancement drugs,” supporting what his father, Mayweather Sr. and his uncle Jeff Mayweather, have openly claimed in past interviews. They all claimed that Pacquiao was into some kind of “roids” (steroids) or has used other banned substances.

“It’s all over the internet. (Link: http://www.zshare.net/audio/676796581a1c2a9e/ listeners’ discretion is advised due to foul and harsh language). They all went on record and there is no denying as to who is lying or not,” added Pacquiao, who thinks he is becoming a victim of black propaganda with the intention of systematically besmirching, tarnishing and destroying his legacy as one of the best fighters of all time. In the audio recording, Mayweather linked him to drug use by maliciously stating that the Philippines is a producer of the best PEDs. “For including my country in the picture, claiming that we are producers of the best performance enhancing drugs, Mayweather and those who are guilty need to get punished, the sooner, the better, whether it be in the courts or in the ring.”

The now-famous Mayweather versus “RA, the Rugged Man” radio interview in October said it all about how Mayweather accused Pacquiao and the whole Filipino nation. Mayweather exploded at the 15:18 minute mark of the 21-minute interview. This transpired even before Pacquiao was to fight Miguel Cotto in November 2009.

Pacquiao reserved and kept other proof of defamatory statements made by other individuals, who will be charged later on in court. His legal team is readying materials in order to file a lawsuit soon. A lawsuit will be filed whether or not his fight with Mayweather will push through on March 13, 2010 in Las Vegas.

The Mayweather camp and Golden Boy Promotions, have required Pacquiao to undergo a new set of drug testing procedures other than those already required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

“I want to put this on the record again, that I will abide by the NSAC requirements like in all of the fights in boxing history, including all of my fights,” said Pacquiao, who vehemently denied claims that he was against drug testing.

“In all my years of fighting, I have never tested positive for any steroids or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) use. I will provide any specimen, whether it be blood or urine samples, just right after the fight but not a day or two before, for obvious reasons. That should stop these clowns from asking for other drug testing procedures other than the ones already required by the NSAC.”

On Monday, Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions issued a joint statement in order to set the record straight. “They claimed that I threatened to walk away from the largest fight in history. That’s their first lie! Last week, I told Floyd Jr. to shut his big, pretty mouth and that we should fight so that the world will get to see who is the best fighter in the planet,” said Pacquiao.

The Mayweather-GBP release also stated: “Let it be very clear that nobody from Team Mayweather or Golden Boy Promotions is accusing Pacquiao of anything. But the reality seems to be that for whatever reason Pacquiao does not want to participate in random blood testing, which has already been deemed a harmless procedure that many current athletes are subjected to prior to and during competition.”

“Again, all we need to see are the other recorded transcripts of what they said in websites and blogs. It is a pity that Oscar “Golden Boy” Dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions should have been supporting me, too, because his company has a promotional stake in my career. They all say they got my back, but yes, they stab me, too, when I turn my back,” said Pacquiao.

Manny Pacquiao to Sue Mayweather

SARANGANI, PHILIPPINES (Dec. 25)—Saying that his character and person has been questioned, maligned, damaged and tarnished by baseless and false accusations, pound-for-pound boxing king Manny Pacquiao and promoter Top Rank Inc. announced today the filing of a lawsuit within the next few days against the Mayweathers, Floyd Sr. and Jr., et al, and Golden Boy Promotions.

“Enough is enough. These people, Mayweather Sr., Jr., and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. I have tried to just brush it off as a mere pre-fight ploy but I think they have gone overboard,” said Pacquiao in Tagalog while celebrating Christmas with his family here.

“I have instructed my promoter, Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Inc., to help me out in the filing of the case as soon as possible because I have had people coming over to me now asking if I really take performance-enhancing drugs and I have cheated my way into becoming the No. 1 boxer in the world,” said Pacquiao.

Libel, slander and defamation suits are being readied against the accused to once and for all clear out Pacquiao’s good name and character.

This week, Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions came out with a press release threatening to put a stop to the projected biggest fight in boxing history between the two top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, by asking too many unrealistic and unprecedented items on the bargaining table, including that of an Olympic-style drug testing.

“I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it,” added the Filipino champion who just turned 31 a week ago. “I have no idea what steroids look like and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years.”

“Now, I say to Floyd Mayweather Jr., don’t be a coward and face me in the ring, mano-a-mano and shut your big, pretty mouth, so we can show the world who is the true king of the ring,” said Pacquiao, who has been contemplating on filing a case against Mayweather Sr. even before the start of his Nov. 14 fight with Miguel Angel Cotto. “I did not sue because I did not want to get distracted during that time because I was preparing for one of the toughest fights in my career.”

“Pretty Boy Floyd, face me instead on March 13 in Las Vegas and not in some talk show forum or in press releases written for you by people who don’t even know me. Face me in a fight where I get to punch back. You and your cohorts have accused me of using performance-enhancing drugs. Now, I say, the burden of proof should now come from you, not me,” said Pacquiao, the only seven-time, seven-weight division champion in the history of the sport.

Pacquiao said he is not against any form of drug testing mandated by any state athletic sports commission whenever, wherever he fights. He just finds it funny and stupid to change a system that has been set for decades now. Pacquiao undergoes drug testing and other medical examinations before and after every fight over the past 15 years and has never failed any of these tests.

“These people think they are doing the sport a great service. They are not,” added Pacquiao. “To Floyd, despite all these accusations, may your Christmas be merry and I will see you in court, soon, too.”

By Horold Kupelle: According to news from the Boxing Scene, Manny Pacquiao had blood taken from him 24 days before his May 2nd bout against Ricky Hatton earlier this year. This is important news because there were reports yesterday that Pacquiao had blood taken 14 days before the fight. This was being used as added pressure to get Pacquiao to agree to having random blood tests within the 30 day window for his proposed fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13th.

Pacquiao, who is uncomfortable with having blood taken from him 30 days before then fight, has been resisting efforts to get him to agree to take the blood tests randomly during that time period. It was hoped by some that if Pacquiao was made to see that he had blood taken previously inside that time frame that he might be agreeable to having blood taken from him again.

However, this latest news will likely change all that once Pacquiao is made aware of it. Yesterday, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said that he would speak to Pacquiao to see if he would change his mind about being tested within the 30 day time period, after Arum was told that Pacquiao had blood taken from him 14 days before the Hatton fight.

There’s no word as to whether Arum had any luck in changing Pacquiao’s mind about taking the test. If no agreement is made soon, Pacquiao and Arum will move on and look at a fight against either WBA light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman or a fight against former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi. Both fighters are less than appealing, however, because neither of these two fighters are well known to casual boxing fans and aren’t huge starts. A fight against Malignaggi would likely end quickly with Pacquiao knocking him out. Malignaggi has little power is more of a runner.

By Tim Rice: In what may turn ultimately to be a futile effort to save the mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the head of the Nevada boxing commission ordered both Pacquiao and Mayweather to take urine tests within two days. It’s not exactly what Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions had in mind, although the news seems to have Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum overjoyed, since he’s all for unlimited random urine tests but not unlimited random blood tests.

If Pacquiao or Mayweather fail to take the urine tests within 48 hours, both face suspensions or fines. This isn’t a big deal for either of them, so there shouldn’t be any problems on this small matter. Mayweather wants blood testing to be done throughout the training period all the way up until the fight, whereas Pacquiao has only given the okay for three separate blood tests, which he wants to stop by the 30 day period leading up to the fight.

For obvious reasons, Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions are unhappy with this, because during that last four week period before a fight there would be more than enough chance for a person to use performance enhancing drugs. However, Pacquiao doesn’t want the tests for fear of being weakened by the blood being taken out of him.

As of today, there was footage of Pacquiao taking a blood test before his fight with Ricky Hatton in May of this year. The film footage, shot in April, showed Pacquiao having blood taken from him 14 days before the fight. Arum was made aware of this, and he says he will speak to Pacquiao about it in an effort to try and salvage the March 13th fight with Mayweather.

Pacquiao showed no ill effects of having blood drawn from him in his fight with Hatton on May 2nd. Indeed, Pacquiao looked incredibly good, tearing into Hatton in the opening round and knocking him down twice with monstrous shots. In the 2nd round, Pacquiao connected with a huge left hand to then head that knocked Hatton before he even hit the floor.

Hatton was out cold for 4 minutes after the knockout. If Arum can show Pacquiao that he wasn’t effected by the blood being taken from him, we could have a compromise with the last 14 days being the final time that blood is taken from Pacquiao, as long as both Manny and Mayweather agree to this.

By Chris Stein: If we’re going to get a fight on March 13th, it’s going to take World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao to give in and agree to take random blood tests inside the last 30 days before the fight. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Floyd Mayweather Jr’s adviser Leonard Ellberbe both put their foot down yesterday, saying that they won’t accept a fight with Pacquiao unless he agrees to random blood tests within the 30 days.

They rejected promoter Bob Arum’s deadline earlier today in which he had set for his proposal to take the drug testing issue to the Nevada Athletic Commission. They knew, just like I did, that the commission would probably do nothing and simply say for both fighters to have their urine tested rather than random blood tests.

But there isn’t going to be a fight unless Pacquiao gives in and agrees to be tested inside the last 30 days before the bout. Arum said he would talk to Pacquiao about it, this after video turned up where Pacquiao was seen having his blood drawn two weeks before his fight with Ricky Hatton earlier this year. I don’t know if things have changed since then for Pacquiao, because he may now be creeped out about having his blood draw, even though they’re only going to take a teaspoon of blood out and not a vial. Whatever.

If Pacquiao says no to Arum, we have no Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Pacquiao will then have to decide on a fight with Yuri Foreman or Paulie Malignaggi, two of the names that Arum has been talking about as alternates for Pacquiao to fight in March. The fight may occur on March 20th, not March 13th if Pacquiao doesn’t fight Mayweather.

I can’t really fathom a person walking away from $25 million dollars. I just can’t. But then again, Pacquiao is already rich and his money goes a lot farther in the Philippines than it does in the United States. Pacquiao doesn’t have to take the Mayweather fight and will still likely make countless millions if he sticks around and fights for another year or two.

However, with Pacquiao talking about retirement real soon, he’d much better off swallowing his pride and giving in about the blood testing issue. He could then get a huge payday for his final fight, if this does turn out to be Pacquiao’s last bout, and then retire and go into politics like he’s been talking about.

By Harold Kupelle: ESPN writer Dan Rafael is reporting that promoter Bob Arum will be speaking to Manny Pacquiao to attempt to change his mind about taking a blood test within the 30 day window, perhaps at the two week mark. Earlier today, an old HBO Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7 segment was shown where Pacquiao was seen taking a blood test 14 days before the fight. The reason this is important is because Pacquiao has been adverse to taking a blood test within the 30 day period before the fight, saying that it might weaken him for the March 13th Mayweather fight.

However, with this new information about Pacquiao having no ill effects before his Hatton fight after having his blood drawn two weeks before the fight, Arum will take this info to Pacquiao in an attempt to get him to change his mind about having his blood tested. If Pacquiao still refuses to have his blood tested, then the fight with Mayweather will be off, because this is the one thing that Mayweather refuses to give in about. He wants random blood tests within the 30 day window.

In other news, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has reportedly decided to take random urine tests from both Pacquiao and Mayweather starting immediately up until the fight, if there is one. This gesture appears to have little meaning, because the urine testing was never the issue. Both fighters have no problems with it. It’s unfortunately not effective at finding the latest performance enhancing drugs, and the test needs to be augmented with additional testing for blood. One would hope that the commission will add this test in the future.

If Arum has no luck with getting Pacquiao to change his mind, it will spell curtains for the fight. Arum then will move ahead and complete negotiations with former International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi, whom he really wants to see in the ring with Pacquiao for some bizarre reason. It seems like a nightmare choice for an opponent, but perhaps Arum doesn’t want to take any chances with putting Pacquiao in with a more dangerous fighter like Timothy Bradley.

By Manuel Perez: It’s really so disappointing how hard that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions have worked at making the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happen, giving in to ring size, a 50-50 purse split, a $10 million dollar weight penalty, gloves, the date of the fight and now with the agency that’s testing the blood. With all that, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum still won’t agree to allow blood testing from an outside agency within 30 days of the fight.

Arum is instead putting the question to the Nevada Athletic Commission for them to decide next month in their meeting. Fat chance they’ll do anything about this to allow for the extra blood testing. This means that there probably won’t be a fight, because Mayweather doesn’t want to fight Pacquiao unless there’s testing within the 30 day period before the fight, and it’s quite understandable.

If you don’t test a fighter four weeks before a fight, they can put all kinds of performance enhancing chemicals in their body during that time. I’m not saying Pacquiao is, but the testing should follow all the way up to the fight if they want to do it right and ensure that neither of the fighters are putting anything illegal in their bodies. Mayweather isn’t comfortable with no testing being down in the last four weeks of the fight.

It’s sad, because Mayweather and those guys have done a lot to make this fight happen, and it’s too bad that we’re at this point where Arum is saying that the Nevada Athletic Commission should settle this. If the commission decides against Mayweather and the extra random testing, then it’s highly doubtful that Mayweather will change his mind about wanting the testing done.

I just don’t know what else Mayweather can do to get Pacquiao in the ring. It appears that unless Mayweather gives in and backs down on this too, we won’t have a fight on March 13th. Oh, we will have a fight on that date, but it will be Pacquiao facing Paulie Malignaggi rather than Mayweather. Arum is hot after Malignaggi as a replacement for Mayweather for some odd reason. Maybe Arum sees Malignaggi as a Mayweather-like fighter and wants to get him in the ring so that Pacquiao can stay sharp for a bout against Mayweather later on in the year. But even if that happens, we’ll still have big problems with the negotiations unless Pacquiao allows himself to be blood tested randomly all the way up until the fight.

By Chris Stein: It’s not looking good for the March 13th mega bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao today after Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum made what he said was his final counter offer by suggesting that the blood dispute be settled by the Nevada Athletic Commission to decide in their next meeting on January 19th.

Other than that, Arum is only willing to have his fighter Pacquiao blood tested three times, once at the fight kick off press conference in early January, another time 30 days before the fight and the final time a day after the fight. That’s as far as Arum and Pacquiao are willing to go with the blood testing for the fight unless the Nevada Athletic Commission mandates that Pacquiao should have to take more. That’s not likely to happen, however, because only urine is tested for in Nevada, not blood before fights.

Mayweather is the one that wanted the additional testing to be done by an outside agency, the U.S anti doping agency. However, Pacquiao thinks that the agency is affiliated with Golden Boy Promotions, and wants nothing to do with it. The Ceo of Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer, vehemently denies that they have anything to do with the agency.

Besides this, Pacquiao still doesn’t want to take more blood tests unless the commission says that he has to. Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions aren’t backing down with their request that there be blood testing down within the 30 day window for the fight. This is the sticking point, because unless there’s some movement with Mayweather giving in or Pacquiao, the fight won’t go forward.

In the meantime, Arum is in negotiations with former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi to have him step in and fight Pacquiao on March 13th in place of Mayweather. Needless to say, Malignaggi isn’t the most appealing of fighters that could have been picked to replace Mayweather for the March 13th date. However, Malignaggi, sadly, is better known than the current light welterweight champions in the division and thus probably the best replacement that can be found for Pacquiao at this time.

By Anthony Cain: In Manny Pacquiao’s recent press release sent out announcing his potential lawsuit with the Mayweathers and Golden Boy Promotions, Pacquiao revealed that he is still interested in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr., saying “Pretty Boy Floyd, face me instead on March 13 in Las Vegas and not in some talk show forum or in press releases written for you by people who don’t even know me. Face me in a fight where I get to punch back.”

This is good news from the World Boxing Organization champion, because he still appears to want to fight Mayweather despite all the bad blood because of the Olympic style drug tests that Mayweather wants Manny to take. Pacquiao is suing the Mayweathers and Golden Boy because of their accusations that he’s taking steroids. One would hope that this issue can be solved without a nasty lawsuit.

Mayweather and his father, for some reason, suspect that Pacquiao is using performance enhancing drugs. Mayweather recently asked that Pacquiao and himself be tested by the Olympic style random testing method. This testing involves a lot of surprise tests during the training. Pacquiao, who is reportedly uncomfortable with having blood draw, doesn’t want to have his this many tests. Pacquiao doesn’t see the reasoning for tests like this, because he says he’s never taken any Peds before.

“I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it.”

Pacquiao appears to be angry upset, which may explain one of the reasons why he still wants to fight Floyd. At this point, Pacquiao may want to teach Mayweather a lesson in the ring to seek revenge. However, that’s good for boxing fans that Pacquiao at least is still interested in fighting Mayweather. Some fighters would get upset and storm off and refuse to fight an opponent that had said things about them.