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Pacquiao claims he fought With Bad shoulder
Manny Pacquiao wasn't the busier fighter Saturday when he lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden.
According to the fighter, his trainer and his promoter, there was a logical explanation as to why he didn't throw as many punches as expected -- Pacquiao fought Mayweather with one arm.
Pacquiao had an injured right shoulder dating to April, and to treat it, he had been using an anti-inflammatory to deal with the pain. The drug lidocaine was approved for use by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, as were the drugs bupivocaine and celesone.
But when Pacquiao wanted to get a shot before he entered the ring Saturday, he was not allowed to be administered the medicine because the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to approve it.
"I couldn't use my right hand," Pacquiao said. "Two weeks before the fight, my shoulder was getting better. It wasn't 100 percent, but it was good enough."
His trainer, Freddie Roach, said they thought about postponing the fight. But they were able to train through it.
"We missed a couple of days," Roach said. "But we saw it was getting better, so we felt we could go forward, continue to train and keep the date for the fight.
"But he obviously wasn't himself. He couldn't throw the right hook."
According to Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who is Pacquiao's promoter, the paperwork that the fighter had sent to the commission on Friday indicated he had no injury. And because of that, the commission elected not to allow Pacquiao to receive a shot in his locker room before entering the ring Saturday.
"The commission was well aware he had a shoulder injury, no matter what the paperwork says," Arum said.
NAC chairman Francisco Aguilar begs to differ.
"I found out about the issue just after 6 (p.m.)," he said. "They never filed any legal paperwork with the commission prior to the fight that he was hurt.
We had Dr. (Timothy) Trainor and Dr. (James) Game check him out, and it was an easy decision on our part.
"Every fighter is given a prefight medical form to fill out. He disclosed the medications, but he didn't disclose any injury. That's why we denied his request."
Aguilar said the scene outside Pacquiao's dressing room over the issue was contentious.
"That's a good word to describe it," he said. "I need proof that an injury exists, and I had no proof. It's our job to keep the integrity of the sport."
Said Arum: "You saw Manny threw punches with his left hand only. That's not Manny Pacquiao. He fought (Mayweather) with one hand. He didn't throw one right hook."
But even though he acknowledged he wasn't in optimum condition, Pacquiao didn't want to make excuses.
"I did my best, but my best wasn't good enough," he said.
Las Vegas Review Journal
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