A recent article in Philstar.com has boxing people up in arms and crying foul over a statement Manny Pacquiao made regarding the shoulder injury he claims to have suffered during his May 2 loss to Floyd Mayweather. To many, the quote, combined with the way Pacquiao has actually approached the rehabilitation of said injury, point to the idea that, maybe, Manny?s injuries were vastly overstated or, perhaps, completely fabricated.
Talking to media at the 2019 FIBA World Cup bidding event in Tokyo last Friday, the eight-division former world champ had this to say regarding his injuries:
?No problem,? he said while displaying a full range of motion and extension of his allegedly injured right shoulder. ?I?m fine. It?s God?s work. I never saw a doctor. I never did rehab. All I did was to swim in the sea as often as I could. The salt water healed my wound.?
Of course, one needs not be a doctor to see where a statement like this would raise many red flags. Experience from seeing other athletes in recovery to repair a ?significant tear? in the rotator cuff shows a long and strenuous road to recovery full of painful, but crucial rehabilitation of the injured shoulder.
Andre Berto, for example, went through seven months of tough rehab before being cleared to engage in light sparring after suffering an injury similar to Pacquiao?s in August of 2013. Berto, by the way, was treated by the same doctor who had attended to Pacquiao?s injury, Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
According to the website for Premiere Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine, patients, at the three to six month mark post-surgery, are barely starting to re-strengthen the muscles in the affected area after the mandatory period of rest and inactivity. Pacquiao?s own doctor has stated that the typical recovery time for the surgery is nine to twelve months. Dr. Surena Namdari of the Rothman Institute told Sports Illustrated that it would likely be six months before Manny could even begin the physical rehabilitation process.
So, with all that in mind, we sit here just about three months after Pacquiao?s loss to Floyd Mayweather and Manny is telling the world that he is not only 100% fine, but that he got 100% fine without ever going to rehab. We?re also to believe that a man with a post-surgery debilitated shoulder was able to propel himself?using that shoulder?through the rough waters of the open sea. And not only COULD he do such a miraculous feat, but that it actually CURED him.
?Manny has strong faith,? Pacquiao?s business manager, Eric Pineda told the media. ?God did it. And all that swimming in the sea helped.?
Pacquiao?s promoter Bob Arum, who slammed his fighter and called him ?unprofessional? after failing to return to the States for rehab, is now also singing the praises of a miraculous recovery.
?He seems like he’s fine?physically,? Arum told the Telegraph UK. “The doctor here was amazed when he saw pictures of his movement and everything?The doctor says he’s got to see it himself.?
Hmmmm.
What to believe, what to believe.
