Injured Manny Pacquiao faces possible perjury charge

Filipino Pacquiao lost on a unanimous decision to undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr in a heavily hyped welterweight showdown in Las Vegas on Saturday that is expected to be the top grossing prize fight of all time.

The 36-year-old answered ‘no’ on a pre-fight questionnaire which asked whether he had an injury – but barely an hour after the contest had ended, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum said his fighter had been hampered by an 'old' injury to his right shoulder.

On Monday, an MRI scan in Los Angeles confirmed the boxer has a torn rotator cuff that will require surgery.

“Disclosure is a big thing for us, and honesty,” Francisco Aguilar, the Nevada Athletic Commissioner chairman told the Daily News.

“The commission at some point will have to discuss it [Pacquiao's questionnaire]. I've got to run through the process with the [Nevada] Attorney General [Adam Laxalt]. But they do sign that document under the penalty of perjury.

“We will gather all the facts and follow the circumstances," he continued. “At some point we will have some discussion. As a licensee of the commission you want to make sure fighters are giving you up-to-date information.

“The medications he was taking were disclosed on his medical questionnaire, but not the actual injury.

“This isn't our first fight. This is our business. There is a process, and when you try to screw with the process, it's not going to work for you.”

A guilty verdict could see Pacquiao handed a prison sentence of between one and four years as well as a fine of up to $5,000 (£3,300).

The major problem here is that apparently neither Pacquiao nor his team informed the Nevada Athletic Commission about the shoulder issue until a couple of hours before the start of the fight when they asked for an anti-inflammatory injection.

At that point, it was too late for the commission to investigate whether or not Pacquiao was suffering a genuine injury and there were no MRIs or medical paperwork to support the claim made by the boxer's team, the commission said.

“The first I heard of this was at 6:08 (p.m. PT) when he (Pacquiao) arrived in the locker room,” Aguilar told reporters during the post-fight news conferences.

“I have no proof of the injury. If he told us on Friday, we would have gotten the MRIs and there are a lot of things we could have done.”

While the commission was seemingly kept in the dark, and clearly no boxer wants to give an opponent any hint of possible weakness or injury ahead of a fight, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was fully aware of Pacquiao's injury.

The Filipino suffered the injury during a sparring session at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles last month and USADA, after being consulted by Team Pacquiao, permitted treatment through Toradol, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.

Pacquiao's promoter said in a statement on Monday that doctors had "concluded that with short rest, treatments and close monitoring, Manny could train and, on May 2, step into the ring against Floyd Mayweather".

Pacquiao continued to work out and his shoulder improved, "though not 100 per cent", but he decided to proceed with the fight after anticipating that he could receive his pre-bout treatment.

“On his pre-fight medical form filled out earlier in the week, Manny's advisors listed the medications that Manny used in training and the medications that might be used on fight night,” Pacquiao's promoter said.

“A few hours before he was expected to step in the ring, when Manny's doctors began the process, the Nevada Commission stopped the treatment because it said it was unaware of Manny's shoulder injury.”

USADA had been informed about the injury but its role was limited only to testing the fighters for banned substances in training and on the night of the bout.

The fact that Pacquiao did not disclose his injury until the night of the fight could also lead to possible lawsuits from boxing fans who feel cheated after paying record sums for either tickets in the MGM Grand Garden Arena or pay-for-view (PPV).

Some of the coveted ringside spots in the 16,800-seat Garden Arena demanded up to $350,000 (£231,000) on resale site StubHub while a record $300 million (£198 million) or more is expected in PPV revenue from at least three million customers who paid $100 (£66) to watch.

Pacquiao, who is renowned for his attacking style, connected with just 81-of-429 punches on the night while the defence-minded Mayweather landed 148-of-435.