While the Floyd Mayweather, Jr.–Manny Pacquiao fight ended up coming closer to being the letdown of the century rather than the fight of the century, some new details may cast doubt on what was considered a clear result. We’re obviously invested, because as we’ve said before, Latinos and Filipinos are primos. One of the reasons the fight didn’t happen sooner than this year’s Cinco de Mayo fight (though it actually took place on May 2) is because both teams couldn’t come to an agreement on drug testing. Now, SB Nation reports that Mayweather used a banned IV the day before the fight. His team said that the IV only had saline and vitamins, but as Complex notes, they can be used to hide illegal substances.
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The Nevada State Athletic Commission is salty because Mayweather didn’t get their approval to use the IV. Instead, he went behind their backs and got approval from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Nevada said that the USADA didn’t have the right to authorize Mayweather’s IV. “The TUE [Therapeutic Use Exemption] for Mayweather’s IV — and the IV was administered at Floyd’s house, not in a medical facility, and wasn’t brought to our attention at the time — was totally unacceptable,” Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett said. “I’ve made it clear to [USADA CEO] Travis Tygart that this should not happen again. We have the sole authority to grant any and all TUEs in the state of Nevada. USADA is a drug-testing agency. USADA should not be granting waivers and exemptions. Not in this state. We are less than pleased that USADA acted the way it did.”
Pacquiao and co. are probably also pissed off. He went to Nevada for permission to take a legal painkiller for his shoulder, but he was denied because it was too close to the fight. We’ll keep you updated on how the whole situation plays out. In the meantime, you can check out our list of Latino boxers who have beaten Mayweather’s 48-0 record.