Manny Pacquiao being sued for not disclosing injuries before Mayweather fight

The Fight of the Century between Floyd Mayweather Jr. Manny Pacquiao is over, but a lawsuit has been filed against Pacquiao by disgruntled fans and bettors.

Just when we thought the anticlimactic Fight of the Century between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao was finally over, it turns out the discussion surrounding the title fight is going to continue for some time now.

Two plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit against Pacquiao in the state of Nevada, who apparently were so dissatisfied with their experience that they are seeking up to $5 million in damages. Stephane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran are suing Pacquiao, Bob Arum and other members of his camp “on behalf of all persons who purchased tickets; purchased the pay-per-view event; or who wagered money on the event.”

News broke almost immediately after the fight that revealed Pacquiao had fought with a significant tear in his right shoulder. The tear originally occurred last month during a training session, but the boxer and his team believed the tear was healed enough for the fight. Pacquiao admitted after the fight that he re-aggravated the injury during the early rounds, and became much less effective afterwards as a result.

Pacquiao’s camp claims to have sent a request to administer a painkilling injection prior to the fight regarding the injury a week prior to the fight. None of the drugs to be involved in the injection were banned substances, but the Nevada State Boxing Commission denied the request because it was not made in a timely manner. Regardless of whether or not Pacquiao said he was healthy during his pre-fight screening, the commission must have had some idea that he was not at full strength.

Many pundits claim that Pacquiao was only in the fight for the money, and that he should have sat out and recovered until he was fully healed. To those people I ask, do you really believe Mayweather was going to wait around on Pacquiao for another year so his opponent could heal, after already sidestepping the fight for half of a decade?

Mayweather-Pacquiao would have never happened if such were the case. Also, it is not like Pacquiao came out and got absolutely pummeled. Just as many people expected, he fought Mayweather close for a decent portion of the fight, and simply could not keep up with him in the later rounds.

As if the unimpressive fight preceded by a massive lead-up were not enough, this lawsuit worsens the black eye that the sport of boxing incurred of May 2nd.

Here is my message to the plaintiffs who were so terribly hurt by Pacquiao braving a serious injury to give his fans the fight they had been waiting five years for: get over yourself.

Whether you lost money on the fight or feel so incredibly screwed over by him concealing an injury, remember that you would have seen the same fight regardless. Mayweather was going to dance around for the entire fight, Pacquiao would not win without a knockout and everyone would still be subjected to 12 rounds of boredom.

You were suckers for the hype just like myself and millions of others around the world were. Apparently Mayweather wants to fight a healthy Pacquiao a year from now, so next time you can save yourself the legal nonsense and tune into the NBA or NHL playoffs, any of your favorite television shows or maybe even throw on a movie instead.

You spent at least $100 to watch two boxers way past their prime fight in the most expensive bout in boxing history, and I am assuming you made bets on the event.

What outcome did you expect?

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