BY SANTOS A. PEREZ
The issue that canceled the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight March 13 now becomes the notable angle leading to Mayweather's bout against Shane Mosley on May 1.
Random blood testing will be implemented for the Mayweather-Mosley fight. Disagreement on random blood tests resulted in Pacquiao and Mayweather opting for other fights instead of their anticipated blockbuster.
And in an unprecedented move, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency will supervise the blood testing before and after the fight. Before Mayweather and Mosley agreed to the new screening guidelines, local supervising commissions monitored fighters only through urine testing.
``At this point, both athletes have agreed to USADA's testing protocols, including blood and urine testing, which is unannounced, which is anywhere and anytime,'' Travis Tygart, head of the USADA, said in a conference call last week.
Tygart said the agency will be informed of the fighters' whereabouts in the weeks leading to the fight. He added that there will be an equitable number of tests administered to each fighter.
``I think it's also important to remember this is all brand new for both of these fighters and while our program over the years has evolved, these guys really for the first time in a really quick period of time are agreeing to and subjecting themselves to a lot of process and a lot of protocols that they're getting familiar with and have agreed to follow,'' Tygart said.
If there are positive test results, Tygart said, fighters can appeal the findings through two separate arbitrary agencies.
Richard Schaefer, chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions, which will co-promote the fight, said the magnitude of the Mayweather-Mosley bout required more screening than urine testing.
``If the highest level of protection is to introduce Olympic-style and random drug testing, the gold standard of drug testing to the sport of boxing, then how could we not be for that?'' Schaefer said.
SUPER SIX With his 12th-round knockout of Jermain Taylor earning him the early lead of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Arthur Abraham looks to remain ahead in his next tournament bout Saturday night.
Abraham, a native of Armenia now living in Germany, will face Andre Dirrell in Dirrell's hometown of Detroit. The bout will begin the second phase of matches involving six super-middleweight fighters. Taylor withdrew from the tournament following his loss against Abraham and was replaced by Allan Green.
Dirrell (18-1, 13 knockouts) lost a split decision against Carl Froch in his first tournament bout last October.
Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) is considered among boxing's best pound-for-pound fighters and enjoyed a four-year run as a middleweight before moving up to the 168-pound weight class last year.
The bout against Dirrell will be Abraham's second ring appearance in the United States. Abraham stopped Colombia's Edison Miranda in four rounds at the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena in Hollywood two years ago.
``I always feel pressure, but pressure is good if you deal with it correctly,'' Abraham said in a statement about his status in the tournament. ``I don't have any problems with pressure. For me, it is additional motivation.''
• Miami resident Odlanier Solis improved his stock in the heavyweight division with a fourth-round technical knockout of Carl Drummond in the main event of a card Saturday night in Key West.
Solis, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist while representing his native Cuba, is 16-0 with 12 knockouts.
On the same card, featherweight Luis Franco, Solis' teammate on the 2004 Cuban Olympic team, improved to 5-0 with a unanimous decision over Walter Estrada. The bout was Franco's first professional fight that went the distance after he had stopped his first four opponents.
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