LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao will have his right shoulder examined in Los Angeles before departing for the Philippines on Wednesday night (Thursday, Manila time).
The Filipino boxing great is not ruling out surgery that could sideline him for three to six months after aggravating the injury Saturday night during his unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in their welterweight title unification match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao wore a sling to immobilize the injured shoulder while he entertained guests in his Las Vegas suite less than 24 hours after the fight that went down as the richest in boxing history.
He and his entourage returned here late Sunday night from Las Vegas.
The 36-year-old Pacquiao doesn’t want to make the injury an excuse for losing against his unbeaten American opponent, but admitted the hurting shoulder rendered him just 60 percent fit on fight night.
During the post-fight press conference, Pacquiao revealed suffering the injury during a sparring at the Wild Card gym less than a month before the fight. An MRI test done later revealed the presence of a tear underneath the rotator cuff which forced him to miss at least two sparring sessions.
An insider within the Pacquiao camp said the injured shoulder dates back to as far as 2009 when he fought Miguel Cotto, hurting it while also in training camp.
The injury back then however, healed in time for the bout, which the Pacman won by a 12th round stoppage.
In the event a surgery is required, it meant Pacquiao would not be able to fight as early as September, easily ruling out an immediate rematch with Mayweather, who revealed shortly after beating the Filipino that he's booked to have his farewell fight in September.
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