Paulie Malignaggi gave his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao's shoulder injury during a media workout in New York. Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KO) returns on May 29 in Brooklyn against Danny O'Connor.
"I know my boxing, that's all. I'll put my own boxing IQ up against anybody. I think it was an exaggerated injury, I think we all have injuries going into fights. I've even talked to pro athletes that have had this injury. I just spoke to a former 15-year veteran of the NBA just a couple days ago, and he was, like, 'Pacquiao's full of shit.' I won't give you a name, but he was, like, 'Pacquiao's full of shit, I had that injury, I couldn't even lift my arms.'
"I think every athlete that has been a pro athlete for a certain amount of time has some sort of wear and tear on their shoulder. I guarantee you if you MRI my right shoulder, I have a little bit of wear and tear. I assure you that I feel it when I lay down on top of my pillow at night, but it's not gonna make or break.
"There's a difference between a severe issue and a tear, and small little things that just happen to you over the course of an athletic career. We all have them. If you're an athlete, you're all gonna have little injuries, but they're not necessarily gonna affect anything unless they're severe.
"Clearly Pacquiao wasn't severe. You could tell by the way he was fighting, you could tell by the way he was reacting after the fight. If it was that severe, that would have been the first thing that came out of his mouth after the fight, instead of he thought he won the fight. Think about it."