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Pacquiao shows you can fight in Nevada with broken feet, torn rotator cuffs, “broken skulls”

By Zach Arnold | May 5, 2015

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Remember when Tito Ortiz said he fought in Las Vegas with a “broken skull”? Everyone chalked it up to another Tito exaggeration. It turned out that he was in a precarious position after all. Forrest Griffin, his opponent in Vegas, claimed that he fought with a broken foot.

And now Manny Pacquiao is claiming that he suffered a rotator cuff injury two weeks before his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Pacquiao is claiming the Athletic Commission wouldn’t allow him to take an injection of Toradol. Francisco Aguilar, Andre Agassi’s lawyer and current Chairman of the Athletic Commission, claims that he will have Nevada’s Attorney General office investigate why Pacquiao selected “no” on an athletic commission document in regards to having an injury.

What, are they going to go after Manny Pacquiao under penalty of perjury? Nevada got the cash they wanted from the Pacquiao fight. Imagine what they would have done if Pacquiao had backed out of the fight.

Manny Pacquiao wasn’t going to back out of a fight with over 3 million PPV buys on the line. Manny Pacquiao wasn’t going to turn down tens of millions of dollars. To back out of a fight at the last minute would have been catastrophic not only for Pacquiao but also for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Whether backing out would have been as catastrophic as his actual fight performance was on Saturday night is up for debate.

Fighters fight. They fight because they love to fight and they fight because they want the paycheck. In theory, this is the reason Athletic Commissions exist — to protect the health & safety of fighters in an ultrahazardous sport who often can’t and won’t protect themselves.

The onus is on the Athletic Commissions to put a stop to fights when they know that fighters are too injured for their own good. Where are the doctors? How are fighters with broken feet, torn rotator cuffs, and “broken skulls” allowed to walk into the cage? Hiding behind the “they didn’t tell us on a form!” excuse is embarrassing. Applying The Honor System to pre-fight medicals in 2015 is foolish.

OK, you can quit laughing now. It’s Nevada. This is currently the same athletic commission that has a board member who applied for a marijuana permit despite having a gaming license and the Gaming Commission telling him to back off. This same board member happens to vote on any marijuana-related drug suspensions of fighters.

In Nevada, they aren’t even trying to hide the shell game. What price is there to pay? None. Other than their image, which really doesn’t matter when the casinos are still making big bucks off of Floyd Mayweather and UFC events.

Now we have the dreadful prospects of a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch, perhaps in Texas — a state with even less regulatory discipline than Nevada. Nevada already got their big bite at the apple. Now we have a potential class-action lawsuit brewing in Clark County against Pacquiao & Top Rank.

What a legacy Governor Brian Sandoval is leaving behind with the Athletic Commission as he transitions into a 2016 Senatorial campaign.

Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |

One Response to “Pacquiao shows you can fight in Nevada with broken feet, torn rotator cuffs, “broken skulls””

  1. Chris says:

    Thumbs up Mr. Arnold!

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