A CLASS ACTION lawsuit has been filed against Manny Pacquiao for failing to disclose his shoulder injury before his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr in Las Vegas.
Two Las Vegas residents have accused Pacquiao of lying over a shoulder injury that now requires surgery and are suing on behalf of ”all persons who purchased tickets; purchased the pay-per-view event; or who wagered money on the event”.
“Prior to and at the time the plaintiffs and the class decided to purchase tickets; purchase pay-per-view showings or wagered on the event, the defendants knew and had full knowledge and information that defendant Pacquiao had been seriously injured and was suffering from a torn rotator cuff,” the lawsuit reads, via ESPN.
“Defendants further know that such injury would severely affect his performance.”
The lawsuit claims Pacquiao’s lack of disclosure about his injury cost a lot of people money in the welterweight bout won by Mayweather in Las Vegas on Saturday.
According to ESPN, wagers in the state of Nevada on the fight could surpass $60million.
Pacquiao, Bob Arum and Top Rank Boxing are the people being sued, and the lawsuit is demanding at least $5m in damages.
Attorney Daniel Petrocelli, who represents Top Rank, issued a statement, which read:
“The allegations in this lawsuit are demonstratively false.
“There are documents that explicitly show the medications that Manny was using to treat his shoulder and it was fully disclosed with USADA, which we contracted for this fight.”
Petrocelli said doctors examined and cleared Pacquiao before the fight. He added that the shoulder was reinjured during the fight and that it should not matter whether the public knew beforehand.
“This is a frivolous lawsuit and we are confident it will be dismissed,” he said.
