Injured Pacquiao may face sanctions
Filipino failed to disclose shoulder problem before fight
THE fallout from the “Fight of the Century” became murkier yesterday with possible lawsuits in the works and Manny Pacquiao likely to face disciplinary action for failing to disclose a pre-bout shoulder injury.
Filipino Pacquiao lost on an unanimous decision to undefeated American Floyd Mayweather in a heavily hyped welterweight showdown in Las Vegas at the weekend.
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 had a torn rotator cuff that would require surgery.
The major problem 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 antiinflammatory injection.
At that point, it was too late for the commission to investigate whether or not Pacquiao was suffering an injury.
“The first I heard of this was when he [Pacquiao] arrived in the locker room,” commission chairman Francisco Aguilar said during the post-fight news conference.
“I had no proof of the injury. If he told us on Friday, we would have got the MRIs and there are a lot of things we could have done,” he said.
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.
The Filipino suffered the injury during a sparring session in Los Angeles last month and Usada, after being consulted by Team Pacquiao, permitted treatment through Toradol, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory.
Arum said on Monday that doctors had “concluded that with short rest, treatments and close monitoring, Manny could train and, on [Sunday, SA time] step into the ring against Floyd Mayweather”. Pacquiao continued to work out and his shoulder improved, “though not 100%”, but he decided to proceed with the fight after anticipating that he could receive his pre-bout treatment.
“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,” Arum said.
When Team Pacquiao filled in its pre-fight medical questionnaire on Friday, a query about any shoulder injury was marked “No”.
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,” he said.
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 or pay-for-view. – Reuters