Texas commission refuses to release Pacman/Margarito test results?

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Saturday, December 11, 2010
Pacquiao, Margarito test clean

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LAS VEGAS -- Since shortly after Manny Pacquiao beat the living daylights out of Antonio Margarito for 12 rounds Nov. 13, I have had an open records request into the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation seeking the results of their post-fight drug tests.

Here's the good news: Both fighters tested clean for everything Texas tests for, according to attorney Daniel Petrocelli, who represents both fighters.

Now, for the drama in getting those results.

I check in with commissions after many big fights just to make sure everything is OK. In most places, it's no issue. In Nevada, for example, it's a simple phone call about 10 days after a fight. The records are public information in most places.

In Texas, for some reason, they are not unless both sides consent to the release of that information. So Texas, while always nice and cordial when I make requests, would not divulge the information -- regardless of if the fighters were clean, dirty or a combination of both. It got all the way to the point where my request elicited a letter this week from the state's attorney general's office explaining its position.

My view is that since boxing is regulated by a state agency, and therefore run with tax-payer money, anyone has the right to know if the participants tested clean or dirty after a fight. Texas needs to seriously consider changing its rule. I was not asking for any private medical information about anyone, simply a negative or positive result on a drug test performed after a fight that was a public spectacle.

With Pacquiao-Margarito there was, of course, much more fan interest that usual over the test results because of the rumors and innuendo that have surrounded Pacquiao (simply because of unfounded accusations from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his people that Pacquiao uses performance enhancing drugs). There was also increased suspicion about Margarito because of what played out in the dressing room at Cowboys Stadium before the fight, when he was suspected of taking a banned substance with a cup of coffee.

So while Texas would not release the information, my Tweets about the situation and clear frustration prompted Top Rank, the promoter of both fighters, to talk to Petrocelli, who represents both fighters on various legal matters. He represents Pacquiao in his ongoing defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and others for their accusations, and he also represented Margarito throughout his campaign to be re-licensed after his California revocation because of the hand-wrap scandal he was involved in related to the Shane Mosley fight in January 2009.

Petrocelli called me Friday afternoon to first give me the results from Margarito, whose camp consented to the release. Because of a miscommunication, he thought I was interested only in the Margarito result. When I told him I also wanted the Pacquiao result, he told me he'd try to also get consent to release that one and call me back.

On Friday night, I missed his call (terrible reception in Mandalay Bay!) and listened hours later to the voice mail he left me. He had also been given permission to release those test results.

Both fighters, he said, tested clean for all of the more than 20 substances that Texas tests for. In addition, Petrocelli said all the levels of the various things Texas tests for were within the limits they were supposed to be for both fighters.

Some people (the lunatic boxing fringe) took Texas' refusal to release the results as a sign that somebody had failed a drug test. That is not the case. Texas was simply following its procedures. It shouldn't have been so hard to get the results, especially since neither guy had anything to hide. Ultimately, however, we got the answers we were looking for: Both men were clean.

 

He didnt have problems last time. He agreed then floyd backed out.