Inventor performed Manny’s surgery
Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the surgeon who recently operated on Manny Pacquiao to repair a torn rotator cuff, was one of three inventors of the procedure that implanted a mesh to secure the detached muscle to the bone in the Filipino fighter’s right shoulder.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said a few days ago the 90-minute surgery was a graft fixation using suture anchors that made it unnecessary to tie the knots in what otherwise would’ve been a cumbersome exercise. The muscle will regrow to be reattached to the bone intertwined with the mesh and the shoulder will be stronger than before. The operation was performed at the Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles four days after Pacquiao’s May 2 fight against Floyd Mayweather.
Koncz said the arthroscopic surgery involved five incisions. Each incision had three to four stitches that were removed by Pacquiao’s personal physician Dr. Regina Bagsic in Manila last week. “It’s healing very well,” said Koncz. “Manny will be in a sling to immobilize his shoulder for four weeks then will begin therapy. At this point, it’s 80 percent sure that Manny will start his therapy in the US. The plan is to leave in time for Manny to begin shooting a film in Salt Lake City on June 17. If Manny decides to stay in Manila, a therapist will fly in from the US to attend to his rehab.”
Koncz said Dr. ElAttrache gave Pacquiao his personal and undivided attention. “Manny arrived at Kerlan-Jobe about 9:30 a.m. and left at 7 p.m.,” he said. “The operation itself took 1 1/2 hours but there was a lot of prep and recovery time. After the surgery, Dr. ElAttrache visited Manny everyday in his house in Los Angeles until Manny left for Manila.” The surgery was done in a private section of the three-storey clinic which is affiliated with the Cedar Sinai Medical Center. Koncz said during the surgery, Dr. ElAttrache also removed bone spurs in Pacquiao’s shoulder.
Koncz said Dr. ElAttrache is well-known in the industry. Dr. ElAttrache is the team physician of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and the orthopaedic consultant of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Kings hockey franchise. He also operated on Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant for a shoulder injury.
“The rehab will take three to four months so it’s final that Manny won’t do boxing for the rest of the year,” said Koncz. “Now, he’ll spend more time with his work in Congress and the Kia team in the PBA. We’re not even talking of a rematch with Mayweather. Manny told me his boxing future will depend on how he comes out of the shoulder problem. I told him that if he decides to retire from boxing, I’d be happy. But nothing is set. As for politics, that’s another decision he’ll make. If you ask me, I’d rather Manny become an ambassador. He’s been invited to visit different countries by heads of state. I’m sure he can convince foreign investors to put money in the Philippines and he doesn’t have to be a politician to do that.”
Koncz was set to leave for the US last weekend to attend to business matters. He has a 62,000-acre ranch with 500 heads of cattle in Idaho which his 23-year-old son manages. Koncz said he will finalize the movie deal for Pacquiao during the trip.
The movie is entitled “Say A Sinner’s Prayer” and will be directed by Gil Medina with Nelson Madrill as producer. Leading the cast are Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Sarah and Tim McGraw as Luke. It is slated for a November release.
“Initially, Manny was offered to appear in the movie as a preacher with a fee of $60,000 for each shooting day,” said Koncz. “But Manny wants to be a co-producer so he’s putting out $500,000 for the film. It will be shot in Salt Lake City. The movie is perfect for Manny. It’s about this hotshot Harvard lawyer who leaves his wife and kids for another woman, then suffers an accident that leaves him paralyzed from the waist down. His girlfriend abandons him and his law firm takes him out. He ends up living in the streets and meets a preacher who’s Manny. In the end, he goes back to his family and finds his way to God.”
Regarding the Mayweather fight, Koncz said he couldn’t agree with the wide margins in the judges scorecards. But he thought Mayweather won. “The plan was for Manny to fight Mayweather like he fought Oscar (de la Hoya), throwing lots of punches, creating angles and being aggressive,” said Koncz. “For some reason, it didn’t happen. There was no sense of urgency in his corner. Before round 8, I went up to Buboy (Fernandez) and told him we need to step it up. I thought we needed to win rounds 11 and 12 to get the decision. There were several rounds that could’ve gone either way and the judges gave them to Mayweather. If Manny fought Mayweather with one arm after he hurt his shoulder in the fourth round and still made it close, imagine what he could’ve done with two good arms? Mayweather’s a skilled fighter and he did what he had to do to win. We knew he would run and hold.”
As for the 32 class action suits being filed against Pacquiao in different states, Koncz said lawyers will push for a consolidation. “They’ve filed charges against Manny, me, Bob Arum, Mayweather, Top Rank and just about everybody involved in the fight,” he said. “Some are asking for $5 million, others more than that. I don’t think there’s merit to the suits and I don’t expect any settlement.”