MAYWEATHER

Bob Arum lashed back at Floyd Mayweather’s insistence that Manny Pacquiao must undergo Olympic-style drug testing, telling Mayweather’s camp “to take a big leap.”

“This is crazy s..t,” Arum said Wednesday from Las Vegas. “They never intended to get this fight done. This was all a sham. Now they’ve found an excuse not to do this fight because I believe that Floyd is scared (to fight Pacquiao). They are backing out of the fight.”

Although there have been reports circulating that both sides have agreed to square it off on March 13, 2010 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the promoters – Arum’s Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) – have yet to issue a formal announcement.

“The fight is off (as of now),” said Arum, fuming over a press release that the Oscar De La Hoya-owned GBP issued to the media on Tuesday, alleging that  Pacquiao’s refusal to agree to undergo Olympic-style random drug testing has put the fight in jeopardy.

Hours before GBP issued the press release, Pacquiao, through his lawyer Franklin Gacal, said the fighter is demanding that a penalty of $10 million per pound be slapped on Mayweather in the event he fails to make the welterweight limit of 147 lbs.

Mayweather has a history of failing to make the agreed weight, going two pounds over 144 when he faced Juan Manuel Marquez last September. Mayweather was forced to shell out a total of $600,000 for the infraction.

Gacal clarified that the penalty applies to both fighters, who have been guaranteed to receive $25 million each and whose total earnings could reach $40 million apiece once the pay-per-view revenue and ticket sales are all accounted for.

While the state of Nevada conducts its own testing of fighters, Mayweather’s camp insists that Pacquiao undergo a different procedure so the playing field is leveled come fight night.

Members of Mayweather’s camp have been coming out with statements the past few weeks alleging that the Filipino had used performance-enhancing drugs in his last few fights.

Before GBP came out with a statement saying the fight is in danger of being scrapped, it appeared the two parties were on their way to a completion of all the details needed for the fight to be signed, sealed and delivered.

With the fight hanging in the balance, Arum said he will talk with Pacquiao immediately to determine what move to undertake next.

“We’ll find a new opponent,” said Arum.

Pacquiao is now back in General Santos City where he plans to spend the holidays with his family.