Only In America! Pacquiao Sued For Injury

By Olly Campbell - 05/06/2015 - Comments

I’m a Brit so please forgive me if you DON’T find the American legal system slightly farcical at times, yet the BBC is reporting that two “people” have filed a lawsuit against Manny Pacquiao in Nevada for “defrauding ticket buyers, television viewers and gamblers” after the fight on Saturday.

The litigation culture in America is something foreign in the extreme to us and all this mess has stemmed from Pacquiao’s post fight insistence that a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder was to blame for his underwhelming, yet spirited performance that resulted in a UD defeat.

The photos of Manny’s pre-fight medical questionnaire in which he declined the opportunity to mention an ailment of any kind has done the rounds on social media. After the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NAC) made that information public, Pacquiao had responded by saying that the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) were aware of his injury and had been notified during camp.

A statement from his promoters Top Rank added the use of a “steriodal anti-inflammatory” had been sanctioned by USADA on fight night but the NAC had not approved it because they were unaware of the injury, thanks to the medical questionnaire in which Manny made no mention of the problem.

The Top Rank statement said;

“This was disappointing since team Pacquiao had disclosed the injury and treatments to USADA who approved the treatments – and Manny had listed the medication in the pre-fight medical form.”

Perhaps they are the photos of the medical form people haven’t seen?

The NAC’s Bob Bennett said;

“Two hours before the fight they wanted a shot that’s a painkiller in essence. That puts us in a very precarious position.”

The “people” that have filed the lawsuits have done so on the basis that Pacquiao “lied” on the medical form by saying he was healthy. The legal disclaimer states that the signatory “Swears under the penalty of perjury the above information is true and correct.”

Surgeon Neal El Attrache said Pacquiao’s “significant tear” to his rotator cuff would sideline him for 12 months, yet that diagnosis has been widely mocked online with Brooklyn welterweight Paul Malignaggi being especially vocal in saying Manny couldn’t have raised his arm to throw a punch with such a tear.

It would seem to me that the rotator cuff tear happened mid-fight as a result of a more minor shoulder injury he didn’t declare beforehand? If an injury existed in the first place?

If Pacquiao is found to be guilty of such an offence then he could go down for between 1-4 years and get a $5000 dollar fine.

And this is what I mean about American’s being crazy with litigation. Those are just sentencing”guidelines” .

Maximums for ANY offence are rarely enforced anyway and in Britain this just would not be news. Despite the seemingly minor issue at hand here, how is it a matter for the courts? Where do these “people” get the nerve?

It begs the more pertinent question as to who the “people” filing the suit are and what the real offence actually is. Probably not the “injury”

For me it is Pacquiao and his team, particularly Freddie Roach, making excuses for the lesson Mayweather handed out Saturday. I despise Floyd’s attitude and do not like the man, yet am one of the rare breed who can separate my dislike of the personality from the respect of his ability and talent.

This “court case” shall hopefully go no further. The injury to Manny is to sideline him for 12 long months so I would feel safe in the knowledge saying that we may have witnessed the last fight of his career.

As for Floyd, who knows? We got the September date and a non-title fight…..Mmmmm Or does Al Haymon have something else in his box of tricks post- Showtime????

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