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29 March 2024

Why Manny Pacquiao did not cheat boxing fans, by Akbar Muhammad

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao arrives at a fan rally at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on April 28, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)

Published
By Allaam Ousman

A top boxing official has sprung to the defence of Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao who has been described as a “sore loser” and a “coward” by Floyd Mayweather Jr and faces multiple lawsuits in the US for apparently concealing a shoulder injury prior to the ‘Fight of the Century’.

Pacquiao, the former eight-division world champion, lost a unanimous decision to Mayweather on Saturday in the richest prize fight ever before undergoing successful arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder four days later.

There has been outcry by millions of boxing fans who paid to watch what former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson described as the ‘Dud of the Century’ leading the lawsuits in Las Vegas.

The ‘Fight of the Century’ which grossed $400 million breaking all financial records may have taken boxing to a new level but will the sport suffer as a result with Pacquiao also staring at a possible sanction by the Nevada boxing authorities.

“Boxing is not going to suffer. I don’t know of any boxer that goes into the ring that doesn’t have something ailing him.

“Every fighter has bad hands. Nobody goes into a fight with a 100 per cent with something not bothering him but that’s the circumstances they have to fight,” said M Akbar Muhammad, a leading boxing executive based in New Jersey.

“For instance if you hit the guy and you hurt the guy, is he going to quit? No. He is going to keep fighting.

“So… no… fans did not get cheated. I don’t think they got cheated. Remember the fourth round, he (Pacquiao) hurt Mayweather, but when he hurt Mayweather he hurt his shoulder even more but he never gave up,” said Muhammad, a former New Jersey Golden Gloves light heavyweight champion.

In an interview with Showtime to be broadcast on Saturday, Mayweather also expressed his disgust that Pacquiao had blamed an injured right shoulder for his defeat by the American.

It points to the pre-fight medical questionnaire signed by Pacquiao for Nevada boxing authorities in which he checked "no" to the question, "Have you had any injury to your shoulders, elbows or hands that needed evaluation or examination?"

A class-action suit filed in US District Court in Illinois not only names Pacquiao and promoters Top Rank but also telecasters HBO and Showtime, who combined to produce the pay-per-view fight programme that was sold in the United States for about $100.

The suit also names Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions and cable television providers AT&T, COMCAST and DirecTV, and accuses the defendants of deceptive practices in marketing and advertising the bout.

"Defendants, individually and collectively, deceptively and fraudulently promoted, produced and sold the fight as one between two healthy fighters... expressly misrepresenting the health of Manny Pacquiao to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, all in an effort to maximize and collect pay-per-view revenue," the lawsuit claims.

Soon after the contest ended, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said the 36-year-old southpaw had been troubled by a previous injury to his right shoulder.

"You guys saw the fight yourself. When you review the film, you'll see how infrequently he threw the right," Arum told reporters.

On Monday, an MRI scan in Los Angeles confirmed the Filipino had a torn rotator cuff and on Wednesday he underwent surgery.

“Look I’ve seen situations where somebody wants to fight with one hand. I never know of any fighter they went in with something not bothering them. But he (Pacquiao) never quit, he was still shooting.

“That (shoulder injury) had an effect on his aggressiveness may be. I don’t think he cheated fans,” reiterated Muhammad who has managed five world champions.

“Let’s give Mayweather some credit. He (Pacquiao) is in there with a sharpshooter.

You are not just going to run in there recklessly anyway. I do think that with his (Mayweather’s) style he (Pacquiao) had to be lot more aggressive,” said Muhammad, president of Akbar Productions LLC who is in talks with officials in the UAE to stage a big fight here.