Floyd Mayweather Jr. is busy promoting his September 17 fight against Victor Ortiz. On the sidelines, however, he is also fighting the steroid defamation suit filed by Manny Pacquiao. This is of course aside from the many other legal troubles the former pound for pound king is currently facing. Since he wants to concentrate on his training, the Mayweather’s camp filed an appeal to postpone the hearing after the Mayweather-Ortiz fight. The court required him to make a deposition last June 17 but he ignored it. Instead he filed an appeal asking a federal court to issue a protective order.

Appeal no Basis said Judge

However, US District Judge Larry Hicks denied Mayweather’s request. The federal judge cited lack of legal basis for the postponement of the deposition or overturning the order of the lower court. “Mayweather Jr. does not provide any points and authorities in support of his motion other than to state that this court should reverse the magistrate’s order,” the judge said.

The camp of Manny Pacquiao is asking for a default judgment because of the continued refusal of Mayweather. They argued that the appeal is irrelevant because they already negotiated several times with Mayweather’s lawyer for his court appearance. Though it is a clear legal strategy to delay the proceedings, the lawyers of Mayweather might be running out of excuses already. If they can’t convince the court to postpone the deposition after the September fight, it will surely affect Floyd’s training. Appearing in court and giving testimony while preparing for Ortiz is definitely not a good scenario for Floyd.

Public Apology is not in the Picture

A lawyer of Mayweather told the Las Vegas Review Journal that they are still negotiating with Pacquiao’s lawyers. “I’ve had correspondence with opposing counsel and we’ll try and find a solution. If possible, we’d like to have the deposition after Sept. 17,” said Tratos.

He also clarified there was no truth about the rumors that the defamation suit will be dropped if Floyd will make a public apology just like what Oscar de la Hoya made recently. “Believe me, if it was an apology that was necessary, this case would have been gone a long time ago,” the lawyer said.

Mayweather Still Open to a Pacquiao Fight

In a recent stop in New York, Mayweather told the media that he is willing to fight the 8 World division champion Manny Pacquiao. “I want to fight the best they got out there — not just him, the best they got out there. And if he’s on the list as one of the best guys, then absolutely,” said Mayweather. This is in response to issues that he is afraid of Pacquiao.

Floyd: Pacquiao is not Taking Steroids

During the press conference, Floyd took another unusual move. He is now saying that he did not accused Pacquaio of taking performance enhancing drugs. “I’ve never said that Manny Pacquiao was taking steroids, I never said he was taking enhancement drugs,” he said.

The AP also quoted Floyd saying that he is referring to sports and not just Pacquiao. “If you look at sports in the Olympics, they’re cheating. Everyone is cheating. And I never once said Manny Pacquiao was cheating, only thing I said was this: Me and any other opponent I face must take the test,” Mayweather said.

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