LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge in Nevada says a lawsuit filed by Manny Pacquiao against longtime boxing rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. over allegations that Pacquiao used performance-enhancing drugs can continue.
U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks said in a court order filed Monday that he would not dismiss the case as requested by Mayweather and others named in the defamation lawsuit filed by Pacquiao in 2009.
Pacquiao claimed in the suit that he has never tested positive for any performance-enhancing drugs. He said Mayweather, Mayweather’s father and uncle, Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions chief Richard Schaefer embarked on a campaign to make people think he used drugs.
Attorneys representing the defendants have said the statements made by Mayweather and others were not defamatory.
