Ricky Hatton on Pacquiao

Of course it does!! They've achieved those things with an unfair advantage (althought in the cases of Indurian and Armstrong a good percentage of their competitors were probably drugged up as well!!)

 

atsch

 

What on earth are you talking about?? :huh

 

well unless all competitors are tested at the same time we can never be sure who was cheating and who was not>

and even if they are "cheating" BY TAKING peds or roids, i wouldn't call them a cheat on that alone. Maradona got caught taking ephedrine in 94 does that take away his status as the greatest footballer of all time? the fact is we don't really know who has cheated we can only make assumptions unless the guy is caught and with that in mind i say that drug taking is not that bad thing in professional sports and many a time it's not significant as the other guys are cheating as well. In terms of fitness and stamina then it can help gain some advantage but it can't help yopu throw punches better or improve your timing or technique..... Pacman in the 1st Marquez fight was very 1 dimensional now he has significantly imrpoved and that's why he wins not because he is on PEDs ....so that's what i meant when i said it doesn't take away from their skills or achievements - that were achieved while proven to be clean..... and if you say otherwise you will have to take out 90% of the great sportsman as they have all taken some 'illegal' drugs at sometime in their lives, even if not while performing. People like Agassi are more guilty and their achievements can be questioned as they admit to taking drugs in their prime.... although i would say the PEDs assisted and gave him an edge.... but how do we know the others he played were not "cheating" unless they were tested in those games? Agassi was obviously not caught

 

I don't doubt that (if he's clean) Bolt is the greatest athlete of all time, it's just that when you've been following sport awhile you've heard all this "how dare you accuse an athlete?" stuff a thousand times. When an athlete pisses all over records it's usually someone who was very good but just off the radar and then from one year to the next they sprouted wings. Then, eventually... revelations.

I get the feeling members of the forum think it's letting boxing down to be suspicious of Manny. To see him toe-to-toe with Cotto and taking the punches he did is mind boggling though. I hope he accepts tests till the day before a fight with Mayweather and is shown to be clean, Betty's blood pressure could not cope with the sight of Hatton in court suing Manny.

 

I guess all Pacquiao is doing is abiding by the rules that are set by the Nevada commission.

I'm definitely in favour of introducing mandatory blood testing into all sports, even if the standard is reduced, at least you see a fair and honest contest.

What do you actually get out of cheating anyway..... you've, well, cheated - it's not real, is it?

 

money, fame, success.

 

Pac is definitely a great fighter who has improved, why do people think taking PEDs would make him box more skillfully? If Hatton took PEDs he still wouldn't stand a chance against Pac or Floyd, the durgs wouldn't just turn someone into a beast like Pac has become. In most of the fights where we know for a fact that a specific boxer took PEDs they did not look dramatically improved, in some cases looked worse i.e Shane Mosley.
Even with PEDs 99% of fighters couldn't do what Pac has done.