Manny Pacquiao has been accused of using steroids or performance enhancing drugs by several high profile members of the American boxing community in recent weeks, without any evidence being shown to support their wild claims against the Filippino marvel.
This begs the question: If Manny Pacquiao is drug free, isn’t he being slandered and defamed by false allegations? Wouldn’t he be entitled to take his accusers to court and ultimately receive compensatory damages?
“Absolutely,” says New Jersey attorney Andrew K. Murray. “If the charges are not true. And not only that, it’s not Pacquiao’s responsibility to prove he’s not taking steroids. It’s there responsibility to prove that he is.”
It’s documented that, over his boxing career, Pacquiao has taken approximately ten drug tests by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He has never once tested positive for any drug.
Mr. Murray says Pacquiao could be entitled to receive serious damages — as the accusations against him have been widely reported in the print and television media.
Imagine if three PGA personalities such as Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson’s caddy, and Fuzzy Zoeller publicly accused Tiger Woods of using steroids, during his major-winning years, without showing any evidence to back their outrageous claims. It goes without say that the Tiger legal team would have retaliated against those three in a strikingly forceful manner.
One has to wonder, if Manny Pacquiao is indeed innocent of steroid-using charges, why his team of advisors has so far been asleep at the wheel and not taken any legal action against the three American accusers who have undoubtedly sullied and defamed Pacquiao’s well-earned positive public image.
