Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BOXING Pacquiao to file suit

Manny Pacquiao said he is planning to file a defamation lawsuit against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the fighter’s father, and Golden Boy Promotions. In a statement posted Friday on his Web site, Pacquiao claims that his character has been damaged and tarnished by accusations he says are untrue. “Enough is enough,” Pacquiao said in the statement. “These people, Mayweather Sr., Jr., and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. I have tried to just brush it off as a mere prefight ploy but I think they have gone overboard.” The proposed megafight between Pacquiao and Mayweather is in danger because the sides have failed to find a compromise to a dispute over blood testing. Promoter Bob Arum declared the bout dead Thursday. Arum had set a Thursday deadline for an agreement on testing, the only issue not resolved for the planned March 13 fight. But with the Mayweather camp still insisting on using the U.S.

Anti-Doping Agency to conduct the tests, Arum said there wasn’t much left to discuss. “These people think they are doing the sport a great service. They are not,” Pacquiao added. “To Floyd, despite all these accusations, may your Christmas be merry and I will see you in court, soon, too.” At the core of the dispute is the insistence of the Mayweather camp of using Olympic-style drug testing for the fight, even though both fighters have never been linked to any performance-enhancing substances. Under Nevada regulations, boxers are generally only tested just before the fight and in the dressing room afterward, and only urine is given. “I have instructed my promoter, Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Inc., to help me out in the filing of the case as soon as possible because I have had people coming over to me now asking if I really take performance enhancing drugs and I have cheated my way into becoming the No. 1 boxer in the world,” Pacquiao said. Mayweather’s camp wants blood tests that can find things urine tests can’t, such as use of human growth hormone, and they want them done by USADA from the time the fight is signed until the fight is held. Pacquiao’s side has agreed to both urine and blood testing, but doesn’t want testing immediately before the fight because Pacquiao believes giving blood so soon before a fight will weaken him. Pacquiao’s Web site states that Mayweather’s camp is “asking too many unrealistic and unprecedented items on the bargaining table, including that of an Olympic-style drug testing.” “I maintain and assure everyone that I have not used any form or kind of steroids and that my way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring, not outside of it,” Pacquiao’s statement said. “I have no idea what steroids look like, and my fear in God has kept me safe and victorious through all these years. Now, I say to Floyd Mayweather Jr., don’t be a coward, and face me in the ring, mano-a-mano, and shut your big, pretty mouth, so we can show the world who is the true king of the ring.”MOTOR SPORTS City honors Bowyer

NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer has donated thousands of dollars in his Kansas hometown in recent years, and now Emporia is showing its thanks. Bowyer’s racing career began on a practice track at Flint Hills Towing on Emporia’s Graham Street. This week, he was on hand as the city unveiled a sign adding the honorary label, Clint Bowyer Boulevard. Two years ago, Bowyer established the 79 Fund with the Emporia Community Foundation to help residents in need. The fundhas helped a city cleanup project and the city Arts Council’s building fund, and this month provided 20 Christmas trees to needy families and shoes for 85 children. Bowyer said he’s humbled by the street sign, and promises that his fund’s work has just begun.

FIGURE SKATING Takahashi finishes first

Daisuke Takahashi finished first in the short program at the Japan national figure skating championships in Osaka, Japan, moving a step closer to earning a spot for the Vancouver Olympics. Takahashi, who is making a comeback from a knee injury, landed all his jumps to record a personal-best score of 92.85 points. Two men will earn berths for Vancouver at the Japan nationals that end Sunday. Takahiko Kozuka, the 2006 world junior champion, was second with 80.54 points while Nobunari Oda, who already secured a place in the Olympics by finishing second at the GP finals, was third with 79.60 points. Takahashi, a former top-ranked skater, was a three-time winner of the Japan nationals before he injured his right knee last year and missed the entire 2008-2009 season. He was also first in the men’s short program at the GP finals in Tokyo earlier this month but dropped to fifth after an errorfilled free skate. Kozuka touched down on a triple axel but avoided further mistakes. Oda fell on his second element - a triple flip. The men’s event concludes today with the free skate.

HOCKEY Russia names Olympic squad

Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk are among the 14 NHL players on the 23-player Russia squad for the Vancouver Olympics. Forwards Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit and Alexander Semin of Washington, defensemen Sergei Gonchar of Pittsburgh and Andrei Markov of Montreal, and goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov of San Jose and Ilya Bryzgalov of Phoenix were also selected. Coach Vyacheslav Bykov said his team should be considered among the favorites as the reigning world champions. Russia last won Olympic gold at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France. The squad will be finalized in February.

ATHLETICS Baala to get bronze

French runner Medhi Baala will be given the 1,500-meter bronze medal from last year’s Beijing Olympics after Bahrain’s Rashid Ramzi was stripped of the gold for doping. The French Olympic Committee said Baala will receive the medal in Paris on Jan. 6. Baala finished fourth in the race but has been upgraded because Ramzi was among five athletes who tested positive last month in retroactive tests for CERA, an advanced version of the bloodboosting drug EPO. Ramzi was the only Beijing winner caught using performance-enhancing drugs. He had given Bahrain its first Olympic track and field gold. Kenya’s Asbel Kipruto Kiprop was upgraded to gold and Nick Willis of New Zealand to silver.

FOOTBALL Shoe fine to help kids

Dunta Robinson’s shoe escapade has turned into a $25,000 boost for a Houston facility that will serve underprivileged children. The Houston Texans cornerback was fined that amount for wearing shoes during the season opener that carried a message directed at General Manager Rick Smith: It said, “pay me Rick.” Robinson was upset he and the Texans were unable to reach a long-term contract and skipped training camp before signing. After writing letters to Smith, owner Bob McNair and Coach Gary Kubiak, Robinson was allowed to donate the fine this week toward the construction of a Houston Texans YMCA that will benefit kids in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Before delivering the check, Robinson did arts and crafts with a group of children in a housing development in Houston’s Third Ward, a neighborhood that will be served by the YMCA. Dozens of boys and girls from elementary and junior high school giggled and smiled as they decorated wooden Christmas ornaments with Robinson and his fiancee. “It’s a great way to make a negative situation into a positive,” Robinson said. “It couldn’t have worked out any better than to come down here and give back to this community and see all these kids smile. These people work really hard to keep these kids on the right track so you just want to make it a little easier on them.”