Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini is never one to hold punches. So to expect any less when commenting on the Manny Pacquiao injury situation, would you expect any less?
“First of all, he didn’t have a torn rotator cuff coming in; he hurt it during the fight or after,” Mancini told On The Ropes Boxing podcast. “I’ve never had a torn rotator cuff but I know guys who have, and you ain’t lifting your hands over your head like that pumping your fists like that. He had a shoulder injury; he had an injury coming into the fight but it wasn’t torn, it got torn during the fight.”
But did he do a disservice to the fans by not postponing the fight due to the injury as many people have stated because of the high pay-per-view price and expensive tickets?
“I thought he fulfilled his obligation, he fought through the pain, he could have quit on the stool, but he didn’t,” Mancini said. “He had more of a chance to quit than most guys, but he didn’t. The problem was, he couldn’t catch him. I thought he hit Mayweather with some good shots at times, and he tried to flurry on the ropes but then Floyd moved away, and he couldn’t catch him. Pacquiao had an obligation to be the best he could be at that moment and that’s the best he was. If he would have pulled out of the fight, that’s a bigger disservice to the people. Every athlete wants to give themselves the best chance to win, but every fighter goes in there with problems. People don’t understand, every fighter goes in there with something, you’re never one hundred percent.”
Going into a fight not being 100% is something a lot of boxers and Mancini feels Pacquiao did what many other boxers had done in the past.
“I’ve gone into fights where I wasn’t one hundred percent, but you have an obligation to the paying public to give them the best fight that you can at what you are that night. Pacquiao trained hard but sometimes you’re not one hundred percent, for whatever reason. All the stuff that was made about his shoulder, I think it’s a lot to do about nothing, to be honest with you.”
