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 Filipino Pacquiao lost on a unanimous decision to undefeated
American Floyd Mayweather Jr in a heavily hyped welterweight
showdown in Las Vegas on Saturday that is expected to be the top
grossing prize fight of all time.
Barely one hour after the contest ended, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob
Arum, said the 36-year-old southpaw had been hampered by an 'old'
injury to his right shoulder.
On Monday, an MRI scan in Los Angeles confirmed the boxer has a torn
rotator cuff that will require surgery.
The major problem here is that apparently neither Pacquiao nor his
team informed the Nevada Athletic Commission about the shoulder
issue until a couple of hours before the start of the fight when
they asked for an anti-inflammatory injection.
At that point, it was too late for the commission to investigate
whether or not Pacquiao was suffering a genuine injury and there
were no MRIs or medical paperwork to support the claim made by the
boxer's team, the commission said.
"The first I heard of this was at 6:08 (p.m. PT) when he (Pacquiao)
arrived in the locker room," commission chairman Francisco Aguilar
told reporters during the post-fight news conferences.
"I have no proof of the injury. If he told us on Friday, we would
have gotten the MRIs and there are a lot of things we could have
done."
While the commission was seemingly kept in the dark, and clearly no
boxer wants to give an opponent any hint of possible weakness or
injury ahead of a fight, the United States Anti-Doping Agency
(USADA) was fully aware of Pacquiao's injury.
TREATMENT PERMITTED
The Filipino suffered the injury during a sparring session at the
Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles last month and USADA, after
being consulted by Team Pacquiao, permitted treatment through
Toradol, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.
Pacquiao's promoter said in a statement on Monday that doctors had
"concluded that with short rest, treatments and close monitoring,
Manny could train and, on May 2, step into the ring against Floyd
Mayweather".
Pacquiao continued to work out and his shoulder improved, "though
not 100 percent", but he decided to proceed with the fight after
anticipating that he could receive his pre-bout treatment.
"On his pre-fight medical form filled out earlier in the week,
Manny's advisors listed the medications that Manny used in training
and the medications that might be used on fight night," Pacquiao's
promoter said.
"A few hours before he was expected to step in the ring, when
Manny's doctors began the process, the Nevada Commission stopped the
treatment because it said it was unaware of Manny's shoulder
injury."
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USADA had been informed about the injury but its role was limited
only to testing the fighters for banned substances in training and
on the night of the bout.
The commission was in overall control, yet when Team Pacquiao filled
in its pre-fight medical questionnaire on Friday, a query about any
shoulder injury was marked clearly "No" before the form was signed
by Pacquiao and his advisor.
A copy of the questionnaire was posted earlier on Monday on the
http://true.ink/boxing/ website where Aguilar confirmed that
Pacquiao faced possible sanctions from the state attorney general's
office for filling out a state form incorrectly.
"It's something we're looking at, and an issue we'll be discussing
with the attorney general," said Aguilar. "Boxers are tough, and
it's our job often to protect them from themselves."
The fact that Pacquiao did not disclose his injury until the night
of the fight could also lead to possible lawsuits from boxing fans
who feel cheated after paying record sums for either tickets in the
MGM Grand Garden Arena or pay-for-view (PPV).
Some of the coveted ringside spots in the 16,800-seat Garden Arena
demanded up to $350,000 on resale site StubHub while a record $300
million (198 million pounds) or more is expected in PPV revenue from
at least three million customers who paid $100 to watch.
Pacquiao, who is renowned for his attacking style, connected with
just 81-of-429 punches on the night while the defense-minded
Mayweather landed 148-of-435.
(Editing by John O'Brien)
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