Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto: Money May Dumb to Accuse Pacquiao of PED Use

It was only a matter of time until Floyd Mayweather Junior used his upcoming fight against Miguel Cotto as a platform to berate Manny Pacquiao and harm his own shot at unquestioned greatness as a result.

According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com, Mayweather was asked a question on Tuesday about the ongoing Cold War between his camp and Pacquiao's in relation to the "Fight of the Century" that just might have to wait until the next century.

He parlayed that into an opportunity to attack Pac-Man for a full 10 minutes, accusing the boxing superstar of using performance-enhancing drugs and claiming that his refusal to step into the ring with Pacquiao would put his health at risk.

Is that so, Floyd? You mean to tell us that boxing is a dangerous sport and that touching gloves with a world-class fighter of Pacquiao's caliber might jeopardize your well-being?

Who knew that boxing was such a violent sport.

If Mayweather was truly worried about his health, he would suspend his boxing career immediately, before going toe-to-toe with Junito on Saturday. Being a boxer practically guarantees that one will stand directly in harm's way, by virtue of partaking in a combat sport.

His attacks on Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, and Don King for profiting off the misery of other men don't really add anything to the conversation. Neither does his claim that he cares about the well-being of his opponents.

Simply put, if Money May didn't want to hurt anyone, if he were truly a pacifist, he wouldn't engage in pugilism in the first place.

Of course, Mayweather isn't necessarily referring simply to injury so much as to the excessive harm that might come from facing a doped-up pugilist, as he claims Pacquiao to be.  

It's one thing if Money May wants to insist that Pacquiao submit to random, Olympic-style drug testing if the two are to fight.

That's well within his rights and, frankly, should be a condition to be met by all matches, whether a title belt is on the line or not. Doing so won't restore boxing to its former popularity, but it will at least ensure that the sport is clean and the results legitimate.

But to go on the offensive against Pacquiao (and Arum)—to speculate that Pacquiao is "on the juice" without any proof whatsoever—is patently reckless.

Whether you believe Mayweather's statements or not, for him to make them so loudly and so publicly only gives Manny more disincentive against fighting Floyd.

Then again, reckless behavior isn't exactly a new phenomenon for Floyd. Once the calendar turns to June, he'll be in jail, serving a 90-day sentence stemming from a recent domestic battery case.

The greater shame, though, is that by popping off against Pacquiao, Mayweather is only denying boxing fans (and the sport itself) of the matchup that everyone wants to see, the one matchup that might just save boxing from total oblivion.

On the flip side, it's also possible that Floyd's verbal malfeasance is another calculated measure to drum up interest in—and heighten—the stakes of a date with Pacquiao once he's a free man again.

Whatever the case may be, Mayweather isn't doing himself or his sport of choice any favors. His physical well-being will always be at risk, no matter how clean or dirty his opponent may be.

The health he should really be concerned about is that of boxing, which might soon be back on life support thanks to his latest numskullery.

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