Amid the hoopla over his “boring” fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Manny Pacquiao’s camp revealed to the media that the Pinoy champ had been nursing a shoulder injury but was not allowed to take injections to dull the pain hours before the bout.
Thus, he was not on tiptop shape and did not throw as many punches as what fans had anticipated. Perhaps it is the camp’s bid to justify the boxing champ’s loss yet it seems the plan backfired because Pacquiao could be facing criminal charges for not disclosing his injury to the Nevada State Athletic Commission!
.@MannyPacquiao today in his hotel room. He injured his right shoulder sparring in training camp. It hasn’t healed. pic.twitter.com/eQtXjH0DLw
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 4, 2015
The camp had notified the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA) about the injury as there were medicines Pacquiao taking that might appear on the agency’s blood tests but the boxing commission was not informed; thus, they did not approve the use of medicines before the fight.
LOOK: Joint Statement on Pacquiao’s Right Shoulder Injury (from Top Rank and Team Pacquiao)
Punishment for Pacquiao
Although Pacquiao was, technically, not cheating when he did not disclose the shoulder injury, he is still guilty of perjury because he declared in a sworn statement before the commission that he had no injuries whatsoever when, in reality, he is already suffering from the shoulder injury weeks before he signed the pre-fight medical questionnaire!
No one would have known about the injury he was hiding if the camp did not announce it to the public mere hours after he lost the bout. Though it appeared to be an excuse for not winning, it has landed the champ in hot water.
Pacquiao could be jailed for 4 years! Of course, the commission just might let this pass but considering the media frenzy surrounding the mega-fight, lots of journalists would surely be focusing their lenses on this issue and the boxing officials could be forced to impose the law. After all, perjury is a serious offense.
Perhaps it had been best for the camp to keep quiet about the injury as they had already gotten away with it, anyway. Better yet, they should have declared the injury to the commission so that 1) Pacquiao would have been allowed to take the non-steroid numbing medicines and 21) he won’t be in such big trouble now.
LOOK: Pacquiao’s Pre-fight Medical Questionnaire