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For $100 on Saturday night, you got to see a fight that featured one of the combatants competing with a torn rotator cuff. That's a fact. And Manny Pacquiao is now headed into surgery, which will require 9 to 12 months of recovery time, ruling him out for the remainder of 2015 and perhaps well into 2016.
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KO) was soundly beaten by Floyd Mayweather in a fight that took five years to make, was excruciatingly difficult for all promoters and networks involved to actually get off the ground, and ultimately was a letdown as entertainment. What's worse now is that the injury -- whatever you think of Pacquiao's chances fully healthy or not -- clearly was something that contributed greatly to making this event far less than what was advertised.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neil ElAttache will perform the surgery in Los Angeles.
"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," ElAttrache said. "If all goes as expected with the surgery and the rehab is successful, Manny could be back training in about six months. At that point, he will be regaining strength and endurance, and competition is reasonable within nine months to a year. But this is a severe enough tear that it won't heal without being repaired."
At 36, Pacquiao is likely within just a few years, at most, of retiring from the sport anyway. This is the sort of injury that could take a pretty major toll on his effectiveness once he returns, too, particularly if there are any bumps in the road with rehab.
Here's a simple question: do you feel at all ripped off, or however you want to phrase it, by the fight going ahead even though one of the combatants was far less than 100%?