Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Fight: Injury Controversy Threatens to Spoil Money's Win

The inquest into the bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao began almost instantaneously as the final bell tolled.

Mayweather was far too classy for his Filipino opponent, winning a unanimous decision on the judge’s scorecards. But as you might expect from a sporting occasion that was subject to so much focus, there’s been plenty of fallout in the aftermath, with Pacquiao citing an injury problem as a potential debilitating factor, via BoxingScene.com:

"

Three weeks before my fight I had to skip my training for a couple of days for that reason.

We went for an MRI – there is a tear in my right shoulder. It's part of the game. I don't want to make alibis or complain or anything ... (but) it's hard to fight one-handed.

"

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As noted by Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, via Ben Dirs of BBC Sport, the Nevada Athletic Commission was informed of the Filipino’s injury five days ahead of the fight but refused when Manny’s camp requested an injection to help ease the pain prior to the showpiece.

Dan Roan of BBC Sport confirmed that the request came too late:

While defeated boxers have dubiously cited injury problems on myriad occasions in the past, there were plenty of tangible factors on show that suggested Pacquiao wasn’t quite at full tilt.

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Throughout his career he has always been a charismatic and aggressive fighter, but here he was uncharacteristically cautious. Of course, Manny was always going to be wary of the fundamental skills boasted by Mayweather, but there was absolutely no effervescence in Pacquiao’s display aside from a couple of isolated bursts in the fourth and sixth rounds.

However, contrary to the opinion of the boxing cognoscenti, the Filipino still felt as though he did enough to win the bout, via AudioBoom:

But as noted, there are very few who would agree with that particular assessment. Remarkably, as we can see here courtesy of Compubox, Floyd actually threw more punches in the fight:

But does a potential knock to Manny blemish Mayweather’s victory? Perhaps.

After all, the excitement ahead of this showdown was centred on whether or not Floyd—who has occasionally been flustered by high-pressure fighters—could cope with the balanced, intense offence Pacquiao brings to his fights.

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Instead, we got an extremely tentative bout, and with Manny unable to sustain any pressure, Mayweather dictated the second half of the fight with a forensic ruthlessness.

Indeed, as noted here by Roan, the undefeated American also claimed he was suffering from a variety of knocks coming into the bout:

Regardless of the severity of the injuries suffered by each man, the chatter on the issue in the aftermath of the Vegas clash has shifted some of the spotlight away from Mayweather’s win. Naturally, fantastical pictures are already being painted of how the scrap would have panned out had Pacquiao been at full tilt.

However, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated thinks, shoulder injury or otherwise, that Pacquiao in his current form wasn’t getting near the immaculate American:

The frustrating thing is that we’ll never quite know for sure. A refreshed Pacquiao would certainly make a better fist of things, and it’d be intriguing to see how Mayweather would cope with a much more multifaceted attack. A rematch doesn’t seem likely at this juncture, though.

Perhaps, in the wake of such an extraordinary occasion between two iconic sportsmen, the boxing stratosphere is clinging to one last question that needs to be answered?

The rivalry between these two has been five years in the making, and while it may not have been the spectacle we all hoped for, Mayweather ensured there was finally a decisive outcome.