By Steve Kim
Much is being made over the right shoulder of Manny Pacquiao which he and his camp says was injured about a month out before his fight with Floyd Mayweather on May 2nd. Top Rank on Monday afternoon sent out this joint release with Pacquiao explaining their side of the story .
Still, many fans are disgruntled, not just over the fight itself - which was dull by most people’s standards - but that Pacquiao may have come into this contest debilitated.
When asked if postponing the fight was considered, Mike Koncz, the adviser for Pacquiao told BoxingScene.com:
“Yes, we thought about pulling out of the fight; actually I threatened the commission we were going to pull out of the fight.”
Koncz says this occurred on fight night as Pacquiao was inside his dressing quarters at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
In hindsight would Koncz have made the decision to pull the plug?
“I wish I would've, yes” Koncz admits. “It had nothing to do with the money, yeah we need money to pay bills but Manny's an entertainer, he's loyal to his fans. He just felt he would be letting down his fans if he postponed the fight. It wasn't about the payday."
Was there a concern that this long-awaited fight simply would’ve never happened at all if it didn't occur on May 2nd, given the contentious nature of the relationship that exists between the two sides?
“No, I don't think about that because we postpone the fight, where's Floyd gonna go?” countered Koncz. “We have a contract, we have a legitimate injury. The fight is not cancelled - it's postponed because of an injury. He can't go fight somebody else.
“That would be my argument.”
Regardless, Pacquiao and his side are taking a lot of heat for the manner in which they have handled this situation.
“I'm not worried about criticism or other people,” Koncz insists. “People are entitled and allowed to say what they want. I suggested to Manny we pull out of the fight when the injury first occurred. Manny thought about it, (but) made the decision to not pull out because he didn't want to disappoint his fans.
“So I feel I did my job. We were also under the belief that we would be able to do that injection fight night. The main thing is he didn't want to disappoint his fans. If we knew we weren't going to be allowed to do that injection, I think Manny's decision would've been much different and he wouldn't have proceeded with the fight.”
Koncz says that Pacquiao is slated to undergo surgery later this week, but declined to give out the date or location for fear of creating a media frenzy.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
