LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A lawyer for Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao says rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. failed to appear for a court-ordered deposition in Pacquiao's defamation suit against the American fighter.
Attorney Daniel Petrocelli said Mayweather didn't show up on Friday to provide sworn testimony, a day after federal Magistrate Judge Robert Johnston ruled that he had to appear.
Mayweather's attorneys had argued that he needed to concentrate on training for his September 17 fight against Victor Ortiz.
Pacquiao sued Mayweather over statements from Mayweather and others in his camp accusing Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs.
The two, considered the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, have repeatedly failed to reach terms to meet in the ring in what could be the richest bout in boxing history.
On May 31, Pacquiao settled his defamation lawsuit against Oscar de la Hoya and his Golden Boy promotions chief Richard Schaefer.
Under the terms of that settlement, de la Hoya and Schaefer issued a statement and apology to Pacquiao, saying they "never intended to claim that Manny Pacquiao has used or is using any performance enhancing drugs, and further state that we do not have any evidence whatsoever of such use."
Pacquiao has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and in his original 2009 lawsuit he claimed that Mayweather, his father Floyd Snr and uncle Roger along with de la Hoya and Schaefer "conducted a campaign in a set of interviews to make people think he used them."
Pacquiao's lawsuit is not Mayweather's only pending legal issue.
He also faces felony charges stemming from a domestic dispute and misdemeanor harassment and battery charges in separate cases.
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