Pacquiao to have surgery today on injured shoulder

By Boxing News - 05/06/2015 - Comments

1-01-1By Chris Williams: Four days after his disappointing loss to boxing’s No.1 pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. last Saturday night in their mega-fight, the Philippine’s Manny Pacquiao will be undergoing shoulder surgery on his right rotator cuff today by the well-known surgery Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, California.

The estimated time for Pacquiao to bounce back from the surgery is from 9 to 12 months, but it’s too early to tell whether his shoulder will be like it once was. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum thinks that Pacquiao’s surgery will be a success and that his shoulder will be as strong as it once was.

We obviously don’t know that will happen like that. Jeff Lacy had the same type of surgery and many boxing fans believe his surgically repaired left rotator cuff was never the same.

“We first have to make sure the rotator cuff heals well,” Arum told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “Dr. ElAttrache is a famous surgeon, one of the best in the business, so I’m confident the surgery will work, and if it does, why wouldn’t we entertain a rematch [with Mayweather]?”

Normally a fighter coming off of surgery like the type that Pacquiao is having today will take tune-ups to make sure that the body part is functioning at the top level once again, but it doesn’t look as if Arum will be taking that course with Pacquiao. We didn’t see Pacquiao take a tune-up after he was knocked cold by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, although some boxing fans feel that Brandon Rios counts as a tune-up for Pacquiao in their fight in 2013.

With Pacquiao not taking any tune-ups before a rematch with Mayweather in 2016, boxing fans won’t really know what they’ll be getting from Pacquiao as far as his physical status. He may be the same as he always way, or he could be weaker with his right hand. A one-armed Pacquiao stands no chance against Mayweather. It would be a tragedy if Pacquiao loses a second time and then starts making excuses about his surgically repaired right shoulder still not being 100 percent.

Pacquiao reportedly suffered the shoulder injury in early April while sparring. Where the controversy begins is that Pacquiao opted not to inform the Nevada State Athletic Commission about his shoulder injury when filling out the pre-fight medication questionnaire. In question No.6 on the form, it asks whether the fighter has a shoulder injury, and Pacquiao answered with a ‘No’ in the box. Later on before the fight, the Nevada Commission rejected an attempt by Pacquiao’s team to have him be given a shot of an anti-inflammatory for his injured shoulder, as the Commission reportedly didn’t find out about the injury until 2 ½ hours before the fight.



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