THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON THE ACCUSER
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 10 Jan 2010
As a boxing website contributor, I always told myself not to criticize other writers because no one is perfect. But when they come outright with articles accusing athletes of wrong doing without a proof that is beyond reasonable doubt, I have to do something and hopefully even up the playing field.
As the saying goes, the burden of proof is on the accuser.
Nothing tangible has been presented so far!
Some guy named Sean Morehouse in his article published by Bleacher Report flatly went out and accused Manny Pacquiao of being a cheater without anything to back up his statements.
That is totally wrong and un-called for!
The sad part however, Morehouse is so blatant in doing so because he is aware as a writer he can hide behind the ?First Amendment? of the US Constitution. He can say that his statement is an opinion thus is protected by ?freedom of speech'.
Incidentally, this so called ?Freedom? has often been abused by Americans. It is no small wonder, why certain things are going the way they are in this beautiful country.
Just because Manny Pacquiao did not agree to the stupid demands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. means that Pacquiao is on something that allowed him to achieve what he has done so far.
Perhaps if Junior had the same work ethic, morality and the fear of God that Pacquiao has, he could achieve what the Filipino spitfire has done.
Pacquiao?s refusal to bow to the demands of Mayweather is not about using drugs and fear of being discovered.
If it were, he would flatly refused blood testing. But he did not. In fact he offered a compromise which he was not obligated to do because the demands are stupid!
It is simply about pure common sense.
Why should he agree to the stupid demands that change the rules solely for him? The NSAC has already set the rules for everyone, who is Mayweather to demand more additions to already adequate and time tested rules?
Morehead?s article is bluntly racist and discriminatory. It is an embarrassment to writers who try to keep the profession within certain bounds.
If he stated it as an opinion, I say in my opinion, (pun intended) his statement is pure hogwash and is purely the product of a xenophobic mind.
But then again, having lived in this country for over 4 decades, I am not surprised anymore. To this day and age, still many of my fellow Americans can not accept the fact that foreigners can excel in any given task. In fact, in many cases, they are better than ones who are born and raised in this country.
Pacquiao is one of them. Why is it not possible that he is just simply blessed with the talents and natural strength that he has?
And, that brings us back to Morehouse.
Sean Morehouse can not accept the fact that Pacquiao achieved what he did.
Now, possibly guided and brained-washed by the stupid statements initiated by a convicted drug addict, he is accusing Pacquiao of being a cheater.
Hey Morehouse, are you drunk or on something? Surely you can?t be an alumnus of a nuthouse otherwise you would not be writing for a respected website like BR.
How can you flatly say that Pacquiao is a cheater when he never tested positive for anything all the time he was tested by the State of Nevada?
How can you even mention Manny Pacquiao?s name in the context with a established cheater like Mark McGuire, the ex-baseball player? Where is your proof that Pacquiao is a cheat?
You have nothing but an intolerant mind!
Stating that Pacquiao is a cheat is already bad enough, but when you took the statements of Teddy Atlas and build up your opinion about Pacquiao based on them, you have crossed the point of no return.
Atlas, just like you have no proof. If indeed he had really a ?source? would he not come out with it? After all, that would be a scoop, isn?t it? All poor Teddy Boy has is hearsay. That my friend is no proof at all!
And, if indeed Mayweather had that e-mail stated by Atlas, would you think he won?t show it around to the media?
The fact is, you, Atlas and the Mayweathers have no proof at all.
You are just envious of the man that achieved and made more friends and money that you can?t even dream of.
And, you want to put him down.
As Einstein stated:- ?Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds?.
In my opinion, Sir, Manny is the former and the three of you are the latter.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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