Last night’s boring fight between two old men may have been a boring fight between one old man and one injured old man.
After losing his highly-anticipated bout with Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao told reporters he fought the match with a right-shoulder injury he suffered while training. Here’s more, via ESPN:
“It’s part of the game,” Pacquiao said. “I don’t want to make alibis or complain or anything ... [but] it’s hard to fight one-handed.”
Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach and promoter Bob Arum were vague on the details of the injury but confirmed they considered postponing the bout a few weeks ago.
“I thought he fought a courageous fight under all the circumstances, and I’m very proud of what he accomplished tonight,” Arum said.
Arum told reporters Pacquaio suffered the same injury as Kobe Bryant, who tore his rotator cuff in January. It’s unclear if Pacquaio actually did fight with a torn rotator cuff, but Arum also mentioned that Pacquaio was seeing the same doctor as Bryant.
Pacquaio tried to mitigate the circumstances of the injury by taking an anti-inflammatory shot before the fight, but his request was denied by the Nevada Athletic Commission:
“We were not aware of his injury until tonight at 6:30,” said [Francisco] Aguilar, [Chairman of the NAC], who made the ruling. “The medications he was taking were disclosed on his medical questionnaire, but not the actual injury. ... This isn’t our first fight. This is our business. There is a process, and when you try to screw with the process, it’s not going to work for you.
“After speaking to [NSAC medical consultant] Dr. [Timothy] Trainor and understanding what the request was, I made a decision not to allow it, given the timing of the request.”
Pacquaio apparently used similar treatments for his shoulder after suffering the injury some time in March, with the shots approved by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Arum told reporters that Top Rank filed incorrect paperwork with regards to the injury. When told of Pacquaio’s comments, Floyd Mayweather said he was dealing with injuries to his own arms and hands.
Yeah, Pacquaio may have been hurt, but this fight was probably going to suck either way.
Photo via Getty
[ESPN]