Arum not sure if Pacquiao will fight again

By Boxing News - 05/21/2015 - Comments

1-04-4By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s shoulder injury has his promoter Bob Arum concerned whether the Filipino fighter will heal up properly and fight again after his shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.

While Pacquiao’s surgeon said that Pacquiao’s surgery was a success, it doesn’t mean that the injury will heal to the point where he can throw punches like he used to. Some fighters are never the same after they have surgery on their shoulders, and it’s quite possible that Pacquiao will have limited strength in his right shoulder once it heals and he tries to return to the ring to fight.

The question then would be can a one-armed Pacquiao find the same kind of success as he did before? I think a one-armed Pacquiao could beat the Top Rank stable fighters that Arum has been feeding him, but I don’t think he could beat the top welterweights like Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Keith Thurman, Marcos Maidana and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The good news for Pacquiao is that he wouldn’t have to worry about fighting Thurman and Maidana because they’re not going to face Pacquiao due to their management. That leaves only Brook and possibly Mayweather.

I think you can rule out Mayweather because he already said ‘no’ to a rematch with Pacquiao because he didn’t like the way he was mouthing off after their fight on May 2nd. That leaves really only Brook for Pacquiao at 147, and of course, the re-tread opponents Tim Bradley, Chris Algieri and Brandon Rios.

“It’s a very serious injury but the prognostication is very good,” Arum said via USAtoday.com. “Do we know for sure whether he’ll be able to fight again? No. But rotator cuff surgery has generally been successful with athletes. I mean Kobe Bryant underwent the same operation with the same doctor.”

There’s a difference between playing basketball like Kobe Bryant does and using a repaired torn rotator cuff for throwing punches. My guess it’s a lot more complicated for a boxer to come back from that type of surgery than a basketball player or a baseball pitcher.

It’s going to take about six months for Arum and Pacquiao to find out for sure if his shoulder will be the same. It may not matter if Pacquiao only has a small percentage of the power in his right shoulder that he used to have because if Arum matches him up against the right type of opposition, he should do well regardless. If all Arum is going to do is put Pacquiao back in with Rios and Bradley, then he won’t need both arms because those guys aren’t much of a threat to him due to their limited talent.



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