CHICAGO (JGL) – In team sports as in basketball or in football, if the ball captain or the quarterback is injured, another player or backup quarterback can always step up and the game continues to be played.
But in individual sport like boxing or cycling, if the boxer or cyclist suffers severe cramps (pulikat), the boxer can ask the referee to stop the fight or the cyclist can ask the organizer for a time out.
In the case of Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao, weeks before the biggest fight of his life when he injured his right shoulder, instead of under going an MRI examination to find out the extent of his injury, he continued with his workout without notifying the Nevada Boxing Commission, which can also order health examination for Manny and decide whether to postpone the fight or go on with it.
As it turned out, Manny aggravated the injured condition of his right shoulder which could have led to the tearing of his right rotator cuff that prevented him from being aggressive as he normally does in attacking Floyd Mayweather in the fourth round which could be considered as Manny’s best of the 12 rounds last May 2nd when he had Mayweather on the ropes.
I have yet to hear the comment of Manny’s cutman if the cutman got wind of Manny’s shoulder injury. If the cutman were not around when Manny sustained the shoulder injury during the sparring sessions, he should have been made aware of Manny’s condition. The cutman could have given preliminary recommendation for Manny to undergo MRI examination.
If the cutman knew about Manny’s shoulder injury and did not recommend that Manny undergo precautionary physical examination with a sports doctor who could recommend that Manny undergo an MRI examination, then Manny has all the reason to fire his good-for-nothing cutman.
WHERE IS THE CUTMAN?
But if the cutman was not around because Manny is a tightwad for not parting with 1-3% of his prize money with the cutman, then it is all Manny’s fault for listening to his trainer, advisor or promoter to go on with the fight, hoping that his injury will heal by fight time.
Manny cannot blame Mayweather either if Mayweather plants a “mole” or spy in Manny’s Team Pacquiao camp.
Manny should remember this when one is at war, everything is fair, including the application of Sun Tzu’s Art of War – you have to know yourself and your enemy if you want to win a war.
When Mayweather Promotions’ CEO Leonard Ellerbee told Yahoo’s Kevin Iole before the fight that “(Manny’s trainer) Freddie Roach thinks he runs a tight camp, but I know everything that’s happening there,” I don’t see anything wrong with Mr. Ellerbee’s statement.
If “Mayweather’s camp was so aware of details from the camp of Manny Pacquiao that they even knew the days when he (Manny) changed morning running routine,” then Mayweather was on the money in applying Sun Tzu’s employment of “intelligence and espionage” on your enemy.
Manny should have paid big money to some of Mayweather’s trusted aides if Manny wanted to gather good information about the condition of Mayweather during their training period.
My only problem with Mayweather is that if his camp got wind of the shoulder injury of Manny, he should have advised Manny to consult a sports doctor about Manny’s condition.
If not, should Mayweather take pride in beating a one-armed opponent on the night when all the people in the universe were watching?
MANNY RE-INJURED HIS TORN ROTATOR CUFF DURING THE FIGHT
As it is, I firmly believe that now that it was proven by medical tests that Manny really had a torn rotator cuff before the fight and Manny re-injured it in the fourth round, when boxing history is written, the 48-0 record of Mayweather beating Manny (57-6-2, 38 KOs) by unanimous decision should have a question mark or an asterisk because when Mayweather fought Manny, Mayweather was in top shape while Manny was nursing a severe injury.
By keeping silent about Manny’s injured condition, Mayweather validated the class action lawsuit filed by a pay-per-view viewer (Plaintiff Ryla Bouchier) of the Fight of the Century that Mayweather, Manny and the promoters conspired in hyping up the fight but concealed Manny’s health condition before the fight so they could amass millions of dollars of profit that they would not earn if Manny’s injured condition were disclosed before the fight.
If Mayweather, Manny and their promoters would not own up their mistakes for conspiring in silence and would not return the money earned from the public because of their alleged fraud and deception, even if they hire the best lawyers in the universe, they will only end up unjustly enriching their lawyers and leaving them destitute of credibility if the various United States district courts find for the plaintiffs of 32 class actions suits, and still counting, including their alleged violations of 18 U.S.C. Section 1961, The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO), in a class suit seeking excess of “the sum or value of $500,000,000, exclusive of interest and costs.”
Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of “racketeering activity.”
If they forfeit all their ill-gotten gains and pay $25,000 for each count of their violation for racketeering, how can Manny and Mayweather ever have a rematch if they are jailed for 20 years for each racketeering count? I rest my case.
And I got a late call from a friend (Marlon L. Pecson), saying, for those, still wanting to file or join a class action suit against Manny and Mayweather and their promoters, they can contact Chicago Administrative Law Judge Phil Bernstein, a friend of the Filipino American community. Atty. Philip L. Bernstein can be reached at Bernstein & Associates, 8044 N. Overhill Avenue, Niles IL 60714, 773.710.8258 or E-mail: Pberny28@aol.com.
Good luck to your case! (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)