Why Manny Pacquiao's Refusal of Drug Testing Doesn't Prove Anything

The death of the Mayweather-Pacquiao March 13 mega fight has unleashed the furious fingers of blame.

And many are pointing to Manny Pacquiao's refusal to submit to random blood testing up to 14 days out from the fight as the primary reason.  The most Pacquiao was willing to agree to was a random blood test up to 24 days out. 

"Oh, surely, that means Manny has something to hide!" the blamers say.

No, it doesn't.  It doesn't prove anything.

Take a step back and think about the situation.  Logically.

Under Pacquiao's final proposal, there would be unlimited urine testing, one scheduled blood test during the week of the kick off press conference, one random blood test up to 24 days before the fight, and one final scheduled blood test immediately after the fight. 

Accordingly, the only window of opportunity for Pacquiao to use performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) would be from the date of the random blood test until however long it takes to eliminate traces of the PEDs from the post-fight blood test.  And don't forget, these must be PEDs that are capable of avoiding urine tests.

The only difference between the drug testing procedures offered by the two camps is the cut-off date of the random blood test. 

Pacquiao initially wanted 30 days, but was willing to reduce it to 24 based on a previous blood test he took before the Ricky Hatton fight (for the purposes of retaining his Nevada State boxing licence).  Mayweather would not settle for anything less than 14 days.

The difference, boxing fans, is 10 days. 

I think a lot of people are forgetting that even with Pacquiao's 24-day proposal, the chance that Pacquiao would dope is already minuscule. 

I don't know exactly how much using PEDs for such a short period of time would actually help a fighter, but with so much attention on the drug testing, how much is at stake and the unappealing risk/reward trade-off, what are the genuine odds of Pacquiao even contemplating doping in this situation?

Does anyone honestly believe Pacquiao is thinking "Man, I need those 10 extra days of potential doping opportunity in order to beat Mayweather"?  Or does anyone reckon Mayweather is thinking "Man, those 10 extra potential doping days could mean the difference between winning and losing against Pacquiao"?

Since Pacquiao has never failed a drug test in his life, it is impossible to prove that he cheated in any of his previous bouts.  The random blood testing only serves to ensure that no one can cheat in this particular fight.  Pacquiao cannot hide something that can never be uncovered and cannot yet be hidden.

I fully acknowledge the negative impact of Pacquiao's refusal to agree to Mayweather's demands (and personally I think he should have accepted the 14-day proposal), but please, enough of the "Pacquiao must have something to hide" stuff. 

It is equally absurd to accuse Mayweather of using the blood testing as a way out of this fight. 

These guys were ready to sign so they could beat the crap out of each other, and neither side knew for certain that the other side was not going to accept their cut-off date proposal.

As many have already pointed out, the failure to make this fight was all about ego.