April 4—Manny Pacquiao sustains a shoulder injury while throwing a right hook and his arms then get entangled with those of his sparring partner.
April 6—The injury is examined at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic, and the Pacquiao camp finds out about the tear. They do not disclose the injury right away, hoping it would heal.
May 2—6:08 p.m.—Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) commissioner Francisco Aguilar learns about the request of Pacquiao to take painkillers for his injured shoulder. Aguilar declines the request because the fight was but two hours away and it would be difficult to ascertain the possible effects of the drugs on Pacquiao’s performance in the ring. He also stops Pacquiao from bringing in energy drinks and his own water.
Around 8 p.m.—Pacquiao fights Mayweather in a 12-round megabout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mayweather wins via unanimous decision.
Around 9 p.m.—Bob Arum, head of Top Rank, discloses in the postfight news conference that Pacquiao sustained an injury to his right shoulder. Arum says five days before the fight, the NSAC was asked to approve the drugs to be administered to Pacquiao’s shoulders.
Aguilar says the Pacquiao camp did not reveal the injury in the medical questionnaire filed by Pacquiao’s handlers during the weigh-in on Friday, the deadline for revealing such injuries.
May 4—A source from the Pacquiao camp tells the Inquirer about a series of incidents before the fight that convinced Pacquiao that the NSAC was favoring Mayweather, citing its approval for the American to have painkiller shots on his injured fist.
Top Rank and Pacquiao issue a statement, saying that after undergoing tests on the sustained injury and consultation with Arum and his advisers, they concluded that Pacquiao could train and fight Mayweather on May 2.
The statement adds that Pacquiao’s advisers had notified the US Anti-Doping Agency of the injury and the treatments being proposed by the doctors during training and on fight night. The agency confirmed in writing that the proposed treatments, if used, were completely allowed.
Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s adviser, tells New York Daily News he is the one who answered the questionnaire and claims he checked the wrong box. “It was just an inadvertent mistake… We weren’t trying to hide anything. I just don’t think I read the questionnaire correctly,” he says.
Pacquiao undergoes medical checkup at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles in the afternoon, and later says an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan shows he had sustained a tear on his right shoulder rotator cuff and needs to undergo surgery.–Compiled by Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer Archives