Pacquiao: I was blocked from getting shoulder injection

By Larry Brown

Two days after losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. by unanimous decision in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao and his team are still harping on the shoulder injury excuse.

On Monday, Pacquiao’s promoter Top Rank sent out a statement explaining what happened with Pac-Man’s shoulder injury. They say they informed USADA about Pacquiao’s injury and checked to make sure any and all medications he would be taking would be approved substances. They say that on fight night, the Nevada Commission blocked Pacquiao from receiving a Toradol (common painkiller) injection.

From Top Rank’s statement:

This is nothing but excuses from the Pacquiao camp. They even said in their statement that Pac-Man started to heal during his training camp. Do you think Mayweather was 100 percent for the fight? Everyone who trains for combat sports enters fights with some sort of an injury. Just like when David Haye made an excuse after his loss to Wladimir Klitschko, nobody wants to hear it. Pacquiao got dominated by Floyd, and the shoulder had nothing to do with it.

Also keep this in mind: After this issue with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Pacquiao is unlikely to fight there in the future. Since 2010 he has fought twice in Macau and Texas, and this might be enough to persuade him to fight there in the future.

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