Is Manny Pacquiao Hiding Something?

Last December, when negotiations began for the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, everything was coming together well. The talks seemed to be all but over before the Mayweather camp made one final request that both fighters undergo a stricter drug test. Suddenly Manny and his people walked away from the table.

Following the Joshua Clottey fight, Manny again emerged saying they would meet Floyd halfway with a 14-day cutoff. However, BALCO founder and president Victor Conte, who knows a little something about cheating drug screenings, stated that ''a 14-day cutoff is a loophole you can drive a Mack truck through,'' and Floyd and his camp were still not going to budge as well as Manny's camp.

Now almost a year later, Manny and his camp say they are willing to take the test without a cutoff, which raises many questions.

Why were they not willing to do this in the first place? If they would have agreed back in December, we would have already seen the fight happen last March. It seems strange because the original reason for not taking the test was that Manny believed it would weaken him.

Then Freddie Roach said that they were not going to give Floyd the upper hand in the negotiations, so why all of the sudden are they going to agree to this?

If Manny truly believed the test weakens him, why would he agree to something like that? Why would he risk getting in the ring with the best fighter he has ever fought with that on his conscience?

It comes down to two things: Either something was going on, or Manny suddenly realized that a teaspoon of blood would not weaken him. However, he has blamed losing to Erik Morales in their first fight many times on the blood testing.

It seems strange that the stricter drug test, which was such a big deal almost a year ago that it ruined the fight, can now be brushed aside like it's no big deal.