Pacquiao Forced To Take Medical Tests, Murad Blasts Roach

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

 

Ring Magazine and IBA featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao was today forced to take a blood test and an eye examination by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after they discovered that trainer Freddie Roach and the new management team headed by Shelly Finkel had failed to submit Pacquiao to the mandatory medical examination within the prescribed 30 day period before the fight.

 

When Pacquiao was informed early today that he had to undergo the tests he initially refused claiming that the drops put in his eyes blur his vision for about three days and it was too close to the showdown with Erik "El Terrible" Morales on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Another report claimed that his arm felt weak when blood was extracted. However,  both promoter Bob Arum and international promoter Murad Muhammad said that the fight would not be sanctioned unless Pacquiao took the tests, forcing Pacquiao to go to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and get  it done..

 

To Pacquiao's relief they reportedly extracted 6cc of blood while the eye drops apparently had no adverse effects. Akbar Muhammad who works for Murad Muhammad told Manila Standard Today that Pacquiao took the eye examination at 4:00 p.m after a workout in the gym and that "he seemed fine." Akbar Muhammad accompanied Z "The Dream" Gorres who also underwent a series of tests for his eight round battle with Glenn Donaire, known as the "Filipino Bomber" who has a record of 13-1 with 8 knockouts and is coming off a third round TKO over Roberto Gomez last September 25. Pacquiao himself said "this is the first fight on the card but go early and watch it because it will be a good fight."

 

Manila sportswriters Recah Trinidad of the Inquirer, Nick Giongco of Manila Bulletin and Abac Cordero of the Philippine Star who wanted to  check with Pacquiao on how he felt after the tests, were turned away by a certain Joe Ramos, one of the new faces in the latest group of hangers-on numbering over twenty who Roach earlier referred to as "leeches." The group joined the  Pacquiao entourage that drove from  from Los Angeles last Monday.  Trinidad said they heard several voices from behind the door of Pacquiao's suite but Ramos said they had"no comment" on the controversy and later claimed  Pacquiao was asleep which was unusual since it was in the evening and Pacquiao was scheduled to have dinner with Korina Sanchez of ABS-CBN.

 

Top Rank chairman and promoter Bob Arum earlier told the original Team Pacquiao members headed by business manager Rod Nazario and the Filipino journalists covering the fight that he had spoken to Marc Ratner,  executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission who said "we are  not going to let him (Pacquiao)  take an unnecessary eye examination if he already had one". When Roach claimed that the medical exam results had been lost, Warren Flagg a former FBI agent who investigated boxing for some fourteen years called the doctor in Los Angeles and asked him to fax the documents to Ratner's office which he promptly did. However, Flagg reported that the tests were done in January and that Finkel and Roach had failed to have Pacquiao undergo a medical examination despite his having sent them a fax informing them of the requirements  last March 4.

 

Flagg said "the last time we came here for the Juan Manuel Marquez fight Roach handled all that. He knew what the hell the deal was and we told them what needed to be done." Murad Muhammad said this never happened in the past pointing out that "every fight we made sure that everything is done and that Pacquiao is prepared mentally, physicially and spiritually. Medical responsibilities were taken care of so that when Pacquiao gets to the site of the fight he does not have these problems."

 

In an escalating word war Murad accused Roach of "taking pot shots" at him and trying to "tear my character down instead of taking care of his fighter and paying  attention to his responsibilities to prepare Manny for this fight. Freddie is giving press conferences yet his fighter doesn't have all his tests done.This is unheard of. This is despicable."

 

Murad revealed that when Roach claimed the medical  examination records were lost "I believed him and  thought he told us the truth and took issue with the Commission,  only to find  out that Freddie lied."