Fight of the century: Pacquiao faces sanctions for concealing injury

After the unanimous decision defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and his team announced that he fought with a significant shoulder injury, affecting his performance in the ring. It was later stated that he was to undergo surgery on the injured shoulder.

But now Pacquiao faces sanctions for not reporting the injury to the Nevada Athletic Commission sooner.

Nevada Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar stated, “The first I heard of this was at 6:08 (p.m. PST) when he (Pacquiao) arrived in the locker room.”

“I have no proof of the injury. If he told us on Friday (May 2 PHT), we would have gotten the MRIs and there are a lot of things we could have done,” said Francisco.

The United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) was informed about the injury and approved the proposed treatments but was limited only to testing the fighters for banned substances in training and on the night of the bout.

Yet on Friday (May 2 PHT), Manny Pacquaio and his camp marked that he had not suffered any injuries to his shoulder on the pre-fight medical questionnaire for the commission.

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).

Reports indicate that Pacquiao had suffered a tear in his right shoulder during preparations for the so-called ‘Fight of the Century’, and will undergo surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff.

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