Floyd Mayweather Received Banned IV Before Beating Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather may be facing Andre Berto tomorrow night (Sat., September 12, 2015), but if a recent report is true, he may have a different battle on his hands.

A significant amount of controversy followed Mayweather’s unanimous decision win over Manny Pacquiao in May 2’s ‘fight of the century’ in the form of lackluster action, regret from fans who had waited years for it to happen, and finally a shoulder injury to ‘Pacman’ that lead many to believe he wasn’t fighting at his usual high level.

But a bigger specter has been cast over the hyped bout. A report from SB Nation’s Thomas Hauser reported that Mayweather took a banned IV containing two separate vitamin mixes in an effort to combat dehydration, a finding that was revealed during a drug test administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Here’s where the story gets a bit messy, however.

Although the vitamin mixes Mayweather used are not banned by USADA, the practice of using IVs is clearly banned in WADA’s “Prohibited Substances and Methods List.” While that circumstance would be a bit sketchy in and of itself, the real issue here is the fact that Mayweather was issued a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) dating back to the fight. He reportedly did not apply for the TUE until 17 days after the fight, and the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) did not receive notice of the situation until May 21, a fully 19 days after he fought and defeated Pacquiao for boxing’s biggest single payday.

A testing deal in place with USADA reportedly stated that thy did not have to inform the NAC or even Mayweather’s promoters about any potential TUEs until after they had been issued.

No word has arrived on how USADA plans to address issuing the TUE for Mayweather after he had already fought, but it appears there was some serious discord between the rules and what actually happened.

And in a time when USADA is under a microscope concerning drug testing in combat sports, playing favorites certainly isn’t going to get anyone on their side.