The drama surrounding Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and supposed March 2010 ring opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr. occupies the number one position in Yahoo! Sports Top Boxing Stories of 2009.
"Controversy, it seems, is one of boxing's annual staples. But the stories and scandals were a little larger and garnered bigger headlines in 2009," wrote Yahoo! resident boxing and martial arts columnist Kevin Lole in his entry dated December 28, 2009.
Pacquiao and Mayweather—who are bound to make world boxing history should their anticipated megabuck fight materialize—along with their respective camps are currently in the middle of a heated dispute concerning the American boxer's request for Manny to submit himself to a drug testing procedure to secure the bout's fairness come fight night.
Manny, who had previously declined to submit himself to the test, fearing that providing blood samples a week before the match might weaken him, has filed a defamation complaint with a federal court in Las Vegas, Nevada against Mayweather, his father Floyd Sr., and Roger Mayweather.
Also named as respondents in the legal case are Golden Boy Promotions' chief Oscar de la Hoya and right man hand Richard Schaefer. Pacquiao, as stated by his lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, seeks to clear his name and reputation which was allegedly tarnished by the allegations made by Mayweather's team accusing him of taking performance enhancing drugs.
"Negotiations for a 2010 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao were surprisingly easy. Or so it seemed. Days before Christmas and just as it appeared the fight was going to be formally announced, Mayweather demanded Pacquiao submit to Olympic-style drug testing administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Pacquiao didn't want to risk giving blood the week of the fight and refused to accept the demand, leaving the potentially lucrative bout on the verge of collapse," commented Lole, who further described 2009 for boxing as year of "great fights, tragedies and a number of emotional goodbyes."
Manny also clinched the third spot in the list with Lole commending the proud son of General Santos City on his meteoric rise to boxing prominence within a single year.
"Manny Pacquiao continued his amazing run, knocking out Ricky Hatton in the second round and stopping Miguel Cotto in the 12th to become the Yahoo! Sports Fighter of the Year for the second year in a row. Pacquiao also became a near-unanimous top pick in the pound-for-pound rankings," stressed Lole.