Pacquiao mum on lawsuit
Photographers and writers pose Manny Pacquiao inside his home in Hollywood, CA during an interview on Tuesday, 5 May 2015. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/INQUIRER/See more at FRAME
HOLLYWOOD—Feeling they’ve been ripped off when Manny Pacquiao fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. with an “injured right shoulder,” Clark County ticket holders Staphane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran filed a $5 million suit against Manny Pacquiao in US District Court Las Vegas Tuesday.
The complainants claimed that the Filipino ring icon should have disclosed the injury before the bout happened at MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday night.
READ: Pacquiao sued over nondisclosure of shoulder injury
Top Rank Inc. president Todd Duboef, top honcho Bob Arum and Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz, have also been named respondents in the suit, according to a CBS affiliate Klas-TV report.
The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of everyone who bought pay-per-view tickets and closed-circuit television tickets for the Fight of the Century projected to gross over $400 million. Even those who wagered on Saturday may be included.
Top Rank, which co-promoted the fight won by Mayweather via unanimous decision, is confident the lawsuit won’t gain ground.
“The allegations in this lawsuit are demonstrably false,” lawyer Dan Petrocelli, representing Top Rank, told ABC News.
“ There are documents that explicitly show the medications that Manny was using to treat his shoulder and it was fully disclosed with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which we contacted for this fight.
According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Pacquiao checked “no” in his pre-fight medical questionnaire when asked: “Have you had any injury to your shoulders, elbows or hands that needed evaluation or examination?”
BACKSTORY: Analysis: Pacquiao injury another hit for boxing
Koncz, however, came to the defense of Pacquiao, saying that he was the one who filled up the questionnaires and merely overlook it.
In fact, four questions later, Koncz indicated the painkillers Pacquiao have been taking.
Pacquiao refused to comment on the issue.
READ: Pacquiao faces possible sanctions, damage suits
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