Pacquiao-Mayweather tuloy pa rin ang laban, pero sa korte na

MANILA, Philippines - May laban pa rin sa pagitan nina Manny Pacquiao at Floyd Mayweather Jr. pero hindi na sa ring. Imbes ito ay sa korte na.

Nagsampa na si Pacquiao ng kaso sa U.S. District Court sa Nevada noong Miyerkules laban kay Mayweather Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions at Golden Boy Promotions executives Oscar De La Hoya at Richard Schaefer, dahil sa kasinungalingan at defamatory statement na nag-aakusa sa kanyang gumagamit ng performance-enhancing drugs.

Ito na ang pinal na bomba na papatay sa negosasyon para sa kanilang March 13 HBO PPV superfight sa MGM Grand sa Las Vegas, isang laban na marami ang naniniwalang pinakamayamang laban sa kasaysayan ng boxing kapag nangyari.

Ngunit nakabitin pa rin ang nasabing laban dahil sa isyu ng drug testing protocol na gagamitin sa laban.

Sa ulat sa ESPN.com, ipinagpipilitan ni Mayweather ang random urine at blood testing para sa dalawang boksingero. Pumayag si Pacquiao sa random unlimited urine testing pero sa blood testing sinabi nito pwede lamang siyang kunan ng dugo ng tatlong beses- isa sa kaagahan ng Enero sa kickoff news conference, isang random hanggang 30 araw bago ang laban at isa sa dressing room pagkatapos ng laban.

Gayunpaman, isang urine testing lamang ang ipinatutupad ng Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Habang patuloy ang pagpigil nina Todd duBoef, presidente ng promoter ni Pacquiao na Top Rank, at Golden Boy executive Bruce Binkow, kinatawan ni Mayweather sa usapan para makakita ng isang pagkakasunduan, nagsampa na ng kaso si Pacquiao.

"Manny Pacquiao's achievements come from God-given talent and an indefatigable work ethic -- not steroids," pahayag ng abogado ni Pacquiao sa Los Angles na si Atty. Daniel Petrocelli. "He cannot and will not allow others to deliberately misrepresent his years of hard work and tarnish his reputation.

"We had no choice but to file this lawsuit. He's had an unblemished reputation. You cannot accuse an athlete of cheating. It's the worst possible thing you can do to an athlete. They knew he didn't take any performance-enhancing drugs and they made these statements anyway. There was no choice but to bring a lawsuit to protect his reputation."

Sinabi ni Petrocelli na hihingi sila ng damage na nagkakahalaga ng "in the tens of millions."

Noong Miyerkules, sinabi rin ni Top Rank chairman Bob Arum sa ESPN.com na hindi niya iniisip na mangyayari ang laban at may plano itong iharap si Pacquiao kay junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman sa March 20 sa Thomas & Mack Center sa Las Vegas, para makakuha ng titulo sa record na walong weight division.

"In my opinion the fight has no chance of happening and we should go and do other things and revisit it later in the year," wika ni Arum na nagbabakasyon sa Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "That is what I would suggest. That may not be how it works out. I don't know. It's a damn shame, but it's out of my hands. When I think of having to share a dais with those sleazebags, Oscar and Schaefer, after what they've been saying about Manny, it turns my stomach."

Sinabi naman ni Schaefer, CEO ng Golden Boy sa ESPN.com, "As it relates to lawsuits, we never have a comment. We will refer it to our attorneys. That's all I have to say about the lawsuit."

Wala na siyang sinabi, gayunpaman, may kaso o wala umaasa itong magaganap pa rin ang laban.

"The fact is Floyd Mayweather is ready, willing and able to fight Manny Pacquiao," ani Schaefer. "Bruce Binkow has told me that conversations are ongoing with Todd duBoef from Top Rank to find a solution to get this fight done, and just because there is a lawsuit, Todd has not represented to Bruce that they should stop talking."