Mannix: Pacquiao 'Defrauded Everyone' By Not Disclosing Shoulder Injury
BOSTON (CBS) -- Manny Pacquiao not only lost to Floyd Mayweather over the weekend, but now he's likely going to be hit another blow from his title bout loss.
Pacquiao is now facing perjury charges after not disclosing a shoulder injury ahead of the fight.
Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix was in Las Vegas to cover the big bout, and said it's pretty clear that Pacquiao committed perjury.
"There is no real way around it," Mannix told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday. "They said he had a partial tear in his shoulder, and they said he healed enough. But he was trying to take Toradol, a pain-killer, [before the fight] and if you're experiencing pain that means there's something wrong in your shoulder. But he checked the box that said, 'I do not have a shoulder injury,' and he signed his name to it.
"He signed it right above a sentence that says, 'I sign this under the penalty of perjury,' so I don't see how there's any way around that he committed perjury," said Mannix. "To me, this was fraud, frankly. Think about the money that was paid for this type of event. To go through this event with a one-handed fighter, there's something inherently wrong with that and maybe something legally wrong with that.
"He had an injury, he didn't disclose it, and in my mind, he defrauded everyone who put money up there to do it."
So what will be done about it? Fans have already filed a class-action lawsuit against Pacquiao and his team for fraud, seeking more than $5 million for concealing the injury. Things aren't always on the level out in Vegas, but Mannix said they will be looking into this very closely.
"The Nevada commission has been very vocal about getting this rectified, recommending the Attorney General in Nevada look into it. I get where they're coming from, but to me the Nevada commission is ridiculous," said Mannix. "They've allowed Mayweather do whatever he wants and licensed him to do anything he wants at any time. At this point, Mayweather would have to detonate a tactical nuke in the MGM Grand food court for them to take his license away. They're a little phony there.
"But I do think you'll see a lot of litigation in the next couple of months as people who are outraged that they paid this much for this event try to get their money back," he said.
Mannix also talks about reporters getting their credentials revoked for the fight, which happens more than you may think, and Jamie Foxx's national anthem -- in addition to his interesting way of cheering for Floyd Mayweather: