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03.05.2015 Sports News

Revealed: Pacquiao had a shoulder injury ahead of bout

By MyJoyOnline
Revealed: Pacquiao had a shoulder injury ahead of bout
03.05.2015 LISTEN

Manny Pacquiao said at the post fight press conference that he was essentially a one-armed fighter for much of his fight against Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao stated he had suffered a shoulder injury during training camp.

“One week before the fight my shoulder wasn’t one hundred percent. We had an MRI and there was a tear in my right shoulder,” he said adding that he felt pain from the third round. “I hesitated to be more aggressive because I only had one hand. My right was in pain. It’s hard to fight with one hand.”

It was also revealed that Pacquiao had been denied an anti-inflammatory shot by the Nevada State Athletic Commission prior to the fight even though the shot was approved by USADA during his training camp.

There had been some consideration given to postponing the fight due to the injury but a decision was made not to reschedule.

“I did my best but my best wasn’t good enough,” said Pacquiao. “I fought a good fight I thought I won but I have to review it to see what happened…I hurt him many times but he didn’t hurt me, I think I hurt him like 3-4 times.”

“I respect Mayweather he’s fast. He’s a good boxer and give credit to him. He won tonight. The loss doesn’t bother me. I fought a good fight. It’s part of the game.”

Trainer Freddie Roach stated, “His shoulder was getting better and better. I was happy with his performance. The injury happened about two-and-a-half weeks ago.” Hall of Fame Promoter Bob Arum said it was a bit earlier.

“Athletes always fight hurt,” said Arum. “We felt that the work that was done on the shoulder during training would give him the opportunity to use the right hand. We were disappointed in the third round when the injury kicked up again. But this is always the case with sports. A guy is injured in training, he deals with the injury, he thinks he’s conquered it, then it’s reinjured in the game.”

Freddie Roach: “I think he hurt his opponent. It was a close fight. I hope we can do it again, I’m really proud of Manny. I thought he fought well.”

On Floyd’s legs: “I thought he ran very well. When he wasn’t throwing punches, he was just running and moving backwards and I feel Manny should have won a lot of those rounds because he was the aggressor. But it didn’t go that way.”

Story by Ghana/Joy Sports

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