Manny Pacquiao Slapped With $5M Lawsuit For Concealing Shoulder Injury

Two Las Vegas residents filed a $5 million lawsuit against former eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao for allegedly concealing his shoulder injury prior to his mega fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in Nevada on /4/2.

Manny Pacquiao has been slapped with a $5 million lawsuit.

According to ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell, two Las Vegas residents filed the lawsuit against Pacquiao, his manager Michael Koncz, his promoter Top Rank as well as its chairman Bob Arum and president Todd duBoef on Tuesday for concealing the former eight-division world champion’s shoulder injury prior to his /4/2 welterweight unification title fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. 

Fans file class-action lawsuit against Manny Pacquiao for concealing injury before fight vs Floyd Mayweather. http://t.co/2SdhoKJn4q— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) /4/5, 2015

The lawsuit states the parties involved knew about Pacquiao’s shoulder injury but did not inform the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the fans, who helped make the fight one of the top grossers in boxing history, per ESPN:

“Defendants prior to and at the time the plaintiffs and the class decided to purchase tickets; purchase pay-per-view showings or wagered on the event the defendants knew and had full knowledge and information that defendant Pacquiao had been seriously injured and was suffering from a torn rotator cuff. 

“Defendants further know that such injury would severely affect his performance.”

NBCNews.com’s Andrew Blankstein reported on /4/5 that Pacquiao and Co. did not state his shoulder injury on a disclosure form and ticked the “no” box on a questionnaire asking him if he had an injury prior to the Mayweather fight. 

Here’s Mayweather targeting Pac’s injured shoulder early in the fight. Sue them all. http://t.co/gQcBB2NZHV pic.twitter.com/9EZtTGuoPX— Jeff Macke (@JeffMacke) /4/5, 2015

For failing to inform the proper authorities about his shoulder injury, Pacquiao could be fined and/or suspended, per Blankstein. 

Nevada Ahtletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar told NBCNews.com on Monday the state attorney general’s office will probe into why Pacquiao answered “no” on the questionnaire.  

Blankstein identifies the plaintiffs as Staphane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran, two Clark County Nevada residents who either paid top dollar to watch the fight live or on pay-per-view cable television.

Rovell stresses Vanel and Rahbaran also claim the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight–dubbed “The Fight of the Century”– was not properly promoted. Their attorney, Brandon McDonald, did not comment further on his clients’ lawsuit.

His counterpart, Top Rank lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, told Rovell on Tuesday he’s confident the lawsuit will eventually be dismissed:

“The allegations in this lawsuit are demonstrably false. There are documents that explicitly show the medications that Manny was using to treat his shoulder and it was fully disclosed with USADA, which we contracted for this fight.

“This is a frivolous lawsuit and we are confident it will be dismissed.”

People are suing Manny Pacquiao because he didn’t tell the world about his injury http://t.co/hlQbooVkTY— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) /4/6, 2015

Several hours before the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache told ESPN’s Dan Rafael on Monday evening Pacquiao has a “significant tear” in his rotator cuff, which entails a rehabilitation period of nine to 12 months:

“We have an MRI scan that confirms he has a rotator cuff tear. He has a significant tear. 

“Once you know he has a tear that’s not going to heal on its own, then the decision for an active person is you want to try to fix this before it gets bigger.

“If all goes as expected with the surgery and the rehab is successful, Manny could be back training in about six months. At this point, he will be regaining strength and endurance, and competition is reasonable within nine months to a year. 

What’s next for Manny Pacquiao’s surgery and rehab? Let’s ask a doctor http://t.co/uAY8ORiRcb pic.twitter.com/KqxcluYKqz— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) /4/6, 2015

“But this is a severe enough tear that it won’t heal without being repaired.”

Koncz told Rafael no specific date for the surgery has been set, but it will definitely take place in Los Angeles. 

On the other hand, Rovell expects pay-per-view revenue generated from the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather title bout to exceed $300 million while wagers in Nevada for the fight could very well top $60 million. 

Ticket sales are foreseen to reach the $72 million mark, per Rovell.

That adds up to an estimated $432 million in total revenue for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight, the richest in the sport’s history. 

Mayweather beat Pacquiao via a unanimous decision on Saturday to become undisputed welterweight king and remain undefeated with a 48-0 mark with 26 knockouts. Pacquiao slipped to 57-6-2 with 38 knockouts, per Rafael.  

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