Pacquiao denied shoulder injection because he filed too late

Soon after the fight that saw Manny Pacquiao get his sixth career defeat on Sunday morning, his team cried foul.

It was disclosed by Bob Arum, the Filipino's promoter, that the fighter had injured his right shoulder in training and that Nevada boxing commissioners denied a request for him to take an anti-inflammatory injection in his dressing room before the fight.

The NSAC officials insisted that the request, at 6.08pm local time, had come far too late, under two hours before the contest was due to start.

There were no knockdowns, and at times it was a cagey affair. Pacquiao seemed to be unable to launch into full assault mode at times, but that was more because Mayweather controlled range, distance and the centre of the ring, and clinched when he had to.

Pacquiao harried and harrassed Mayweather as much as he could, finding some success with powerful left hands, but Mayweather utilised his jab to perfection, moved smartly, and demonstrated once again that his defensive mastery can make great fighters look ordinary.

"I take my hat off to Manny Pacquiao. I see now why he is at the pinnacle of boxing," Mayweather said. "I knew he was going to push me, win some rounds. I wasn't being hit with a lot of shots until I sat in a pocket and he landed a lot of shots."

The richest fight in boxing history - from which Mayweather earned an estimated $180 million - was far from a thriller, but Mayweather's style often results in such spectacles.

http://twitter.com/garyalsmith Pacquiao, largely left handed, threw fewer punches than coach Freddie Roach had wanted him to. Pacquiao was recorded by Compubox as throwing 429, Mayweather 435. Mayweather landed 148 punches; Pacquiao 81. It was one of the surprises of the night.

Arum said Pacquiao's camp thought he would be allowed the anti-inflammatory injection, but they had failed to file the paperwork with the commission in the 'injury' box, therefore leaving the commission, officials argued, no option to but to refuse Pacquiao pain relief.

Five Nevada commissioners decided in Pacquiao's dressing room that he would not be allowed to take it, two hours before the fight.

"The ruling made tonight affected the outcome of the fight," Arum said.